2 NFL jersey styles in 1 game?

[kjjavic]

Hey guys,

I came across this photo of Dick Vermeil being carried off by 2 players following the 1980 NFL Championship game. The 2 players in the photo are wearing 2 obviously different styles of jersey. The player on the left is wearing the fishnet style of jersey the Eagles wore in the late 70s early 80's with sewn on numbers and the player on the right is wearing what appears to be the heavier non fishnet style with screened on numbers.

Does anyone else know of teams doing this back in the 70s and 80s?
I also included photos of a couple of my jerseys that match the photos (except the fishnet style is the white version and not the green version in the photo)

[G1X]

Re: 2 NFL jersey styles in 1 game?

This would happen on rare occasions back during that era. If you have old Street & Smith magazines from that era, you will see photos such as the Falcons lined up with two styles of sleeve-stripe designs being worn, a photo of the Oilers where one of the players has a completely different stripe design from everyone else, and several other examples. I have photos of the Falcons from 1967 with two different styles of number font being worn in the same game - and that was a one-year style jersey!

Perhaps the best example is the 1972 undefeated Dolphins where two different jersey styles were worn in the Super Bowl against Washington (some jeresys with stripes, some without). You will also see some of the players wearing orange belts and some wearing aqua belts in the game.

I can reference you to the specific Street & Smith photos if desired.

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange

[mvandor]

Re: 2 NFL jersey styles in 1 game?

The NFL used to be a lot lower budget operation than it is today, they pinched many a penny pre-1990's...

[kjjavic]

Re: 2 NFL jersey styles in 1 game?

Yeah, definetly a big difference in that era than compared to today. I was wrong, this photo was actually from the NFC Divisonal playoff game, and not the NFC championship game. Maybe it was up to the player which jersey they wore, and the player on the right went with the heavier jersey given the frigid Philadelphia winter temp?