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Good morning, Uni Watchers. It’s Friday — we made it.
A quick bit of housekeeping. ICYMI, yesterday I had an exclusive on the Baltimore Orioles, who will have an all-orange uniform this season, and the NBA unveiled the 2025 All-Star game uniforms and court. Also, today will be the first Ticker for new Ticker Assistant Susan Freeman, so please check that out and welcome her aboard!
Now then.
I’m back again today with my buddy and Gridiron Uniform Database co-founder, Timmy Brulia, who has for more than the past decade, provided YEOMAN research into the uniforms worn by the two Super Bowl combatants. Yesterday we took a look at the history of the AFC rep (and designated “road” team) Kansas City. If you missed that post, please click here. Timmy will bring you the history of the Eagles — a team who have competed in the NFL since 1933 — so it’s a long and amazingly detailed post. Enjoy!
Here’s Tim:
• • • • •
Eagles Uniform History by Tim Brulia
Well, well, well. We got a big one here. So, bear with me as we begin.
• • •
1933: With the anticipation of the uber-strict Pennsylvania Blue Laws being overturned by Keystone voters in November, which would allow Sunday sporting events, the National Football League awards franchises to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh (as well as Cincinnati). The Philly team takes the name of Eagles and colors of pale blue and yellow. The uniforms consist of a pale blue leather helmet trimmed in yellow, jerseys of pale blue with yellow numbers and yellow Northwestern sleeve stripes. The pants were (for the time) standard canvas khaki and the socks pale blue with yellow Northwestern stripes. [In 2007, the team “threwback” for its 75th season to this look, however, it’s likely the team got it wrong. — PH]
1935: The Birds ditch yellow as a uniform color and go to plain white leather helmets. The jerseys are plain, with pale blue jerseys and also green jerseys. Both tops feature white numbers with no trim or striping. Pants are gray with pale blue rear stripes worn with the blue jerseys and white with green stripes worn with the green jersey. Socks are solid pale blue and solid green worn with the respective jerseys.
1942: The look introduced at the tail end of 1941 remains, with the helmet modified to the new colors, with the light gray lid now more of a silvery color and the black sides now green.
1946: Three uni combinations are worn. white over green, green over silver and green over green.
• • •
1947: With the return of the 1944-style white jersey, no less than six combinations are worn this season. A. white (striped) over green. B. white (striped) over silver, C. white (striped) over green with white socks (trimmed with two thin green stripes), D. white (paneled) over green, E. green paneled over gray, F. green paneled over green.
1949: The Eagles replace the leather lids with plastic domes. As a result, two styles of helmets were used. 1) A helmet done in the style of the leather lid, silver with green sides. 2) A solid green helmet. Four uni combos were worn: A. silver-green helmet, white over silver, B. silver-green helmet, green (paneled) over silver, C. silver-green helmet, plain green jersey over silver, D. green helmet, plain green jersey over silver.
1956: As with many other teams, the Eagles add TV numbers to the jerseys starting this season. Four combinations are worn: A. white jersey with green numbers (front, back and wee tiny TV numbers on the shoulders) and green Northwestern sleeve stripes over white pants, B. traditional white jerseys with green numbers (front back and sleeves) with the two separated sleeve stripes over white pants, C. traditional white jersey as mentioned in B over silver pants, and D. plain jersey with white numbers (front, back and sleeves) over silver pants.
1965: The jerseys undergo another revamp. The green jerseys feature two white shoulder stripes and two white sleeve stripes with white TV numbers in between the stripes. The white jerseys also undergo a similar change, two green shoulder stripes, then the green TV numbers and two green sleeve stripes. The green socks, long adorned with two separated thin white stripes, are now a solid color.
• • •
1969: While the Eagles retain the 1965-1968 jerseys and the white pants with the green side stripes, the Eagles change the wing color on the helmets from silver to white. They also decide to wear the green lids for road games only. The Birds break out a white helmet with green wings for Franklin Field games only. In addition, for some early season road games, the Eagles wear stripeless mesh jerseys, in both white and green colors. In all, 5 combos are worn: A. green helmet/stripeless white/white/green, B. green helmet/striped white/white green, C. green helmet/stripeless green/white/green, D. white helmet/stripeless green/white/green, E. white helmet/striped green/white/green. And like all the other NFL teams, an NFL 50th season patch is worn on the left shoulder of all four jerseys.
1985: Except for the helmet, the unis get a major revamp. The sleeve stripes were scrapped on both sets of jerseys for a simpler design. The whites had green numbers edged in black (front, back, shoulders), a green NOB, and the Eagles logo in green on the sleeves. The green jerseys had similar features, white numbers with black outline (front, back, shoulders), white NOB and a white Eagles logo on the sleeves. The silver pants had a new stripe pattern of green/thin black/white/thin black/green. Socks were white with two sets of green stripes flanked by black feather stripes.
• • •
1988: For their game against the Steelers (11/13), the Eagles wore a tiny memorial helmet decal for Art Rooney between the wings.
1992: Popular player Jerome Brown was killed in an accident in late June. The Eagles wore a memorial patch on the left breast in contrast to the jersey colors. Starting with Week 3, the patch was given a facelift and worn for the rest of the season.
• • •
1994: Like all the other teams, the Eagles wore the NFL’s 75th season patch on the left breast of the jersey. For their throwback uni, the Eagles hearkened back to the look of the late 40’s with the silver helmet with green sides, white jersey with the two separated green sleeve stripes, green pants and green socks with two white separated stripes.
• • •
1996: It’s time for another overhaul! The Eagles ditch the kelly green/green which had served them so long in favor of midnight (dark) green. The helmets are midnight green with the wings modified to white, with black inset outlines and a flair of silver. White jerseys feature a new block font with midnight green outlined in black (front/back/shoulders), NOB’s in serifed midnight green trimmed in black and sleeve stripes of midnight green/white/black, the black stripe resting on the sleeve edge. A very small Eagles wordmark sits below the center collar front. The dark green jerseys feature similar number and NOB styling as the white jersey in white with black outline. However a new Eagle logo is placed on the sleeves instead of stripes. The pants are now white with a black/green/black stripe combo, which are worn with both sets, and dark green pants with a single black stripe plus the new Eagle logo placed on the hip are worn with the white jersey. Solid black socks complete the re-design.
2002: 5 uni combos are worn: A. white/white/black (socks), B. white/white/green, C. green/white/green, D. green/white/black, E. green/green/black.
• • •
2003: For their first game at new Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles wear a patch on the white jersey commemorating the event. The jerseys and pants have slight changes. Jerseys now have an added touch of silver trim to the numbers and the wordmark is changed. The pant stripes now have a rear black/front green on the whites and a very thin rear white/front black on the greens. Also, a black alternate pops up, with a green collar and a green sleeve edge. Black socks are again exclusive. The combos: A. white/white, B. white/green, C. green/white, D. black/green, E. black/white.
2010: For Week 1, the Eagles celebrate the 50th anniversary of their last title by wearing their home uniform from that season, including kelly green helmets with silver wings, kelly green jerseys with plain white numbers and serifed NOBs, white pants with two green side stripes and kelly green socks with a thin white stripe. Other uni combos were: A. white/white, B. white/green, C. green/white.
2012: Hall of Fame patches are worn on both the white and green jerseys for Weeks 14 and 15. Combos include: A. white/white, B. white/green, C. green/white, D. black/white.
• • •
2013: The 4 outfits worn are: A. white/white, B. white/green, C. green/white, D. black/white.
2015: Four sets worn this season, including A. white/white, B. white/green, C. green/white, D. black/black.
• • •
2016: Again four sets worn: A. white/green, B. green/white, C. black/black, D. a black/black Color Rush set where the black socks had no white showing.
2018: For Week 1, a special Super Bowl LII Champions patch was worn on the left breast of the green jersey. Three uni combos were worn; white/white, green/white and black/black. No white sannies were worn with the all black combo for Week 10.
• • •
2019: Combinations worn include white/white (with all white socks), white/green, green/white and black/black (with all black socks).
• • •
2020: Four combos were worn, and they were: white/white (all white socks), white/green, green/white and black/black, with sannie socks (Week 14), and without sannies (Week 7).
• • •
2021: The Eagles trotted out a white/black combo for three games in addition to the white/white/solid white socks, green/white/black, white/green/solid white socks and the full triple black set.
• • •
2022: The Birds took advantage of the NFL’s revisited second color helmet availability by wearing a total black from head to toe set for three games late in the season. Other combos consisted of white/white/all white, white/green/all white, white/green/all black, white/black/all black, green/white/black with sannie and green/white/all white. For Super Bowl LVII, the Eagles had the SB LVII patch on the players’ left breast of the green jersey.
• • •
2023: All white (jersey, pants and socks) combo worn for three games and the Wild Card match, with a black and white mixture of socks. Green/white/white combo worn for three games (with a mixture of black socks and white socks for three other games). White/green/white combo worn for three games (mixed with black socks in Weeks 15 and 18). White jersey with black leggings (pants and socks) worn for Week 6. Week 16 featured a black jersey, pants and socks ensemble. A throwback kelly green helmet and jersey with silver pants and white socks with two green stripes outlined in thin black were worn for Weeks 7 and 12.
• • •
2024: Might as well make this a little easier to follow: White jersey combos: Black helmet with black pants with black and/or white socks worn in Week 1; Green helmet with green pants with black and/or white socks worn in Weeks 3 and 13; Green helmet with black pants with black and/or white socks worn in Weeks 7 and 16; Green helmet with white pants and socks worn in Week 12; Green jersey combos: Green helmet with white pants and socks worn for a total of seven regular season games and all postseason games; Black jersey combos: Black helmet with all black accessories worn for Week 18; Kelly green throwback jersey combos: Kelly green helmet with kelly green/silver/white (with two green stripes trimmed in black) combo worn twice (Weeks 9 and 17). Super Bowl LIX patch to be worn on the upper left breast of the green jersey.
• • • • •
WOW! Thanks (again) so much for that Timmy! Tremendous coverage for the Eagles today (and KC yesterday). Readers, please take a moment to give Tim a big round of virtual applause in the comments below.
Picking the Super Bowl Winner by Better Uniform
If you’ve been following UW during the 2025 playoffs, you’ll know that I’ve been picking the winners of all playoff games by “better uniform,” and I usually wind up going slightly better than .500 (the best I’ve ever done is going 8-5, but never worse than .500). This year, my record is 6-5-1, so no matter what the outcome of Sunday’s game, I will still be at .500 or above for this year’s playoffs.
I looked back at the 2023 playoffs, and I actually picked the Eagles, as at the time I viewed their uniform as superior to the Chiefs. Even though I prefer the Chiefs in red/white/white vs. red/white/red, I have learned the error of my ways, and will be going with KC this time around.
SUPER BOWL LIX Chiefs vs. Eagles
Sunday, February 9, 2025
TIME: 6:30 pm (ET)
TV: FOX
Point Spread: Chiefs -1.5
Interestingly, the Vegas line opened at Chiefs -1.5 and that is still the spread. I expect a pretty close game (just like the Chiefs uniforms are a slight better than the Eagles combo), but in the end the Chiefs will take home the Lombardi, and win their third straight Super Bowl.
I don’t really have any rooting interest in this game other than the better uniform. But it’ll be a good looking game regardless, and I’m hoping the Chiefs will be at least two points better when all is said and done.
Guess the Game from the Scoreboard
Guess The Game…
…From The Scoreboard
Today’s scoreboard comes from Douglas Frasier.
The premise of the game (GTGFTS) is simple: I’ll post a scoreboard and you guys simply identify the game depicted. In the past, I don’t know if I’ve ever completely stumped you (some are easier than others).
Here’s the Scoreboard. In the comments below, try to identify the game (date and location, as well as final score). If anything noteworthy occurred during the game, please add that in (and if you were AT the game, well bonus points for you!):
Please continue sending these in! You’re welcome to send me any scoreboard photos (with answers please), and I’ll keep running them.
Guess the Game from the Uniform
Based on the suggestion of long-time reader/contributor Jimmy Corcoran, we’ve introduced a new “game” on Uni Watch, which is similar to the popular “Guess the Game from the Scoreboard” (GTGFTS), only this one asked readers to identify the game based on the uniforms worn by teams.
Like GTGFTS, readers will be asked to guess the date, location and final score of the game from the clues provided in the photo. Sometimes the game should be somewhat easy to ascertain, while in other instances, it might be quite difficult. There will usually be a visual clue (something odd or unique to one or both of the uniforms) that will make a positive identification of one and only one game possible. Other times, there may be something significant about the game in question, like the last time a particular uniform was ever worn (one of Jimmy’s original suggestions). It’s up to YOU to figure out the game and date.
Today’s GTGFTU comes from Jimmy Corcoran himself.
Good luck and please post your guess/answer in the comments below.
And finally...
…that’s it for the early article. Big (huge) thanks, once again, to the incredible Timmy Brulia for all his assistance on the Eagles uniform history in today’s article (and for his 10+ years of providing uni histories on Uni Watch). Thanks, Tim!!!
As noted at the top, our new Ticker Assistant Susan Freeman will be bringing us her first ever Ticker shortly — please give it a read and welcome her aboard. I should have another two or three articles today (including my Top 10 best Super Bowl matchups of all time), but unfortunately I have some family commitments for late morning and all afternoon, so if there’s any breaking news, it’ll probably need to be handled by Weekend Editor Anthony Emerson tomorrow.
Everyone have a great weekend and enjoy the Super Bowl. Anthony will take you through to Monday, when I’ll return for the final Monday Morning Uni Watch for the 2024 NFL season. See you then.
Amazing work – one of my favorites every SB season.
GTGFTS
12 November 2007
Matt Hasselbeck completes a 1 yd TD pass to Will Heller for the game winning score on MNF.
Final score 24-0.
Thought experiment:
Eagles wearing the 1976 jersey (mega-sleeves!) but with either a yellow/powder blue or midnight green/black colorway.
I know. Unrealistic. But you never know.
On uniform merit alone, the Chiefs deserve it, but for all other reasons I have to go with the Eagles.
Please check the NFL Uniform Database for the location of the elusive anthracite stripes on the Eagles’ pants.
GTGFTU – December 5, 1971 Washington 23 Giants 7. RFK Stadium. Was Sir Francis Asbury Tarkenton’s last season with the Giants before returning to the Vikings, #70 OL Bob Hyland’s first season with the Giants.
See below; you must have posted while I was researching/composing. OT Willie Young has #69 on his helmet but according to pro-football-reference he wore #65 in ’71, after wearing #69 in ’70, but as you mentioned Hyland wasn’t on the roster in ’70 (and no one wore #70 in ’70). So with the second digit of Young’s jersey obscured in the photo the question is, did Young continue to have #69 on his helmet after switching to #65 on his jersey? Do you have any recollection of that?
Pro Football Reference has Willie Young wearing #65 in 1971 but also lists him wearing #69 from 1966 to 1975. I have to plead ignorance, I was 8-9 years old then and only got Miami Dolphins games where I lived!
Good call Mike, 1971 was also #72 Diron Talbert’s first season in Washington.
On uniform alone KC wins. Philly has had essentially the same uniform since 1996 and could use an overhaul. Bring back the silver pants.
GTGFTU is a stumper.
It shows the Giants at Washington, in the afternoon, in either 1970 or 1971, the only two seasons in which Washington wore the yellow Lombardi helmets. The Giants uniforms were the same in both of those seasons, the games took place around the same time of year, at same time of day, and Fran Tarkenton (10) was the Giants’ QB in both games.
Here’s where it gets tricky: In the background we see Giants tackle Willie Young (69) and guard Bob Hyland (70). According to pro-football-reference, Hyland wasn’t on the Giants’ roster in 1970, but Young wore #65 in 1971 after wearing #69 in 1970. It’s possible, although I can’t confirm, that Young changed his number mid-season or continued to have 69 on his helmet after doing so; thus, with the second digit of young’s jersey obscured and given the absence of Hyland (or anyone else wearing #70) from the 1970 roster, I’m going to go with the December 5, 1971 game at RFK Stadium which Washington won 23-7.
It’s amazing how many changes and alterations to the Eagles uniforms have taken place over the years considering their long and storied history. Kudos to you Phil for such an outstanding job in summarizing it so efficiently. I always thought to myself that the mid 1970’s jerseys first introduced in 1974 were their best set. It really set the Eagles apart from every team in the NFL. No team in the NFL at that time had such a combination of stripes on their sleeves and uniforms. You knew, when you were watching a game on TV when the Eagles were playing, especially with the wings on the helmet and all those stripes. I really disliked it when they went to the midnight green concept. I think IMO it’s a bad look for them overall. Please Philly, return to the Kelly Green and Silver concept which is a much better look for you guys. IMO.
What’s the deal with the 1970 Eagles QB with white stuff shmeared all over his face?
It’s actually a 1973 photo of Roman Gabriel. I don’t recall the reason for the white shmear.
Even though I prefer the kelly green, I’ve come around to really liking their dark green. I’d rather see this with less black. And I think an improvement would be to go with silver pants to match the silver helmet wings.
The main problem with Philly’s current uniforms is poor design. Whatever your feelings about midnight green (I’ve never liked it), they have tried to jam too many dark colors together where they do not play well or compliment each other. If they insist on staying with midnight green, the uni’s would be vastly improved by dropping anthracite in favor of the old silver and eliminating black altogether. It also wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if they toned down the cartoonish-ness of the number font.
This is pretty spot-on. Setting aside the fact that Nike can’t make midnight green without it looking teal, and they can’t make metallic pants for squat, the primary set is a very dark, desaturated green, a dark anthracite and a lot of black. I have never liked the bespoke font, it is too refined for this team and it’s personal but winning 2 Super Bowls will enshrine midnight forever if winning the first one didn’t already. Kelly green was the color of the team I fell in love with and aesthetically, kelly and silver looks better than midnight, coal and black. GO BIRDS.
The 2014 Eagles changed to the Nike Elite 51 template two years after most of the league, but if you recall from Paul’s coverage right here on Uni Watch, Nike had problems making the green jerseys because they were having difficulty matching their midnight green to the new fabrics, so until Week 10 against Carolina, the Eagles almost exclusively wore their white jerseys, with their black shirts being worn in a preseason game at New England and in Week 6 against the Giants.
Amazing work – one of my favorites every SB season.
GTGFTS
12 November 2007
Matt Hasselbeck completes a 1 yd TD pass to Will Heller for the game winning score on MNF.
Final score 24-0.
Thought experiment:
Eagles wearing the 1976 jersey (mega-sleeves!) but with either a yellow/powder blue or midnight green/black colorway.
I know. Unrealistic. But you never know.
On uniform merit alone, the Chiefs deserve it, but for all other reasons I have to go with the Eagles.
Please check the NFL Uniform Database for the location of the elusive anthracite stripes on the Eagles’ pants.
GTGFTU – December 5, 1971 Washington 23 Giants 7. RFK Stadium. Was Sir Francis Asbury Tarkenton’s last season with the Giants before returning to the Vikings, #70 OL Bob Hyland’s first season with the Giants.
See below; you must have posted while I was researching/composing. OT Willie Young has #69 on his helmet but according to pro-football-reference he wore #65 in ’71, after wearing #69 in ’70, but as you mentioned Hyland wasn’t on the roster in ’70 (and no one wore #70 in ’70). So with the second digit of Young’s jersey obscured in the photo the question is, did Young continue to have #69 on his helmet after switching to #65 on his jersey? Do you have any recollection of that?
Pro Football Reference has Willie Young wearing #65 in 1971 but also lists him wearing #69 from 1966 to 1975. I have to plead ignorance, I was 8-9 years old then and only got Miami Dolphins games where I lived!
Good call Mike, 1971 was also #72 Diron Talbert’s first season in Washington.
On uniform alone KC wins. Philly has had essentially the same uniform since 1996 and could use an overhaul. Bring back the silver pants.
GTGFTU is a stumper.
It shows the Giants at Washington, in the afternoon, in either 1970 or 1971, the only two seasons in which Washington wore the yellow Lombardi helmets. The Giants uniforms were the same in both of those seasons, the games took place around the same time of year, at same time of day, and Fran Tarkenton (10) was the Giants’ QB in both games.
Here’s where it gets tricky: In the background we see Giants tackle Willie Young (69) and guard Bob Hyland (70). According to pro-football-reference, Hyland wasn’t on the Giants’ roster in 1970, but Young wore #65 in 1971 after wearing #69 in 1970. It’s possible, although I can’t confirm, that Young changed his number mid-season or continued to have 69 on his helmet after doing so; thus, with the second digit of young’s jersey obscured and given the absence of Hyland (or anyone else wearing #70) from the 1970 roster, I’m going to go with the December 5, 1971 game at RFK Stadium which Washington won 23-7.
It’s amazing how many changes and alterations to the Eagles uniforms have taken place over the years considering their long and storied history. Kudos to you Phil for such an outstanding job in summarizing it so efficiently. I always thought to myself that the mid 1970’s jerseys first introduced in 1974 were their best set. It really set the Eagles apart from every team in the NFL. No team in the NFL at that time had such a combination of stripes on their sleeves and uniforms. You knew, when you were watching a game on TV when the Eagles were playing, especially with the wings on the helmet and all those stripes. I really disliked it when they went to the midnight green concept. I think IMO it’s a bad look for them overall. Please Philly, return to the Kelly Green and Silver concept which is a much better look for you guys. IMO.
What’s the deal with the 1970 Eagles QB with white stuff shmeared all over his face?
It’s actually a 1973 photo of Roman Gabriel. I don’t recall the reason for the white shmear.
Even though I prefer the kelly green, I’ve come around to really liking their dark green. I’d rather see this with less black. And I think an improvement would be to go with silver pants to match the silver helmet wings.
The main problem with Philly’s current uniforms is poor design. Whatever your feelings about midnight green (I’ve never liked it), they have tried to jam too many dark colors together where they do not play well or compliment each other. If they insist on staying with midnight green, the uni’s would be vastly improved by dropping anthracite in favor of the old silver and eliminating black altogether. It also wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if they toned down the cartoonish-ness of the number font.
This is pretty spot-on. Setting aside the fact that Nike can’t make midnight green without it looking teal, and they can’t make metallic pants for squat, the primary set is a very dark, desaturated green, a dark anthracite and a lot of black. I have never liked the bespoke font, it is too refined for this team and it’s personal but winning 2 Super Bowls will enshrine midnight forever if winning the first one didn’t already. Kelly green was the color of the team I fell in love with and aesthetically, kelly and silver looks better than midnight, coal and black. GO BIRDS.
The 2014 Eagles changed to the Nike Elite 51 template two years after most of the league, but if you recall from Paul’s coverage right here on Uni Watch, Nike had problems making the green jerseys because they were having difficulty matching their midnight green to the new fabrics, so until Week 10 against Carolina, the Eagles almost exclusively wore their white jerseys, with their black shirts being worn in a preseason game at New England and in Week 6 against the Giants.
Very enjoyable read. Thanks Phil.