Good morning, Uni Watchers. It’s Friday — we made it!
And to all those observing Passover, Chag Pesach sameach.
A very interesting tweet appeared the other day from @NFLUniSource (a follower who @’d Uni Watch), which shows two photos of “Color Rush concept uniforms” and states that they are “from the collection of Parker Nordstrom.”
This is neat, and something I’ve never seen before!
Color rush concept uniforms of the Bucs and Niners from the collection of Parker Nordstrom.@UniWatch @GridironUniform @UNISWAG pic.twitter.com/JNpOzvp96a
— NFL Uniform Source (@NFLUniSource) April 10, 2025
Back when the CR program was first introduced, there were a couple concepts that never came to the fore, including an all-athletic gold uniform for the Washington ‘skins and all-metallic gold uniform for the San Francisco 49ers. I’d seen the Washington concept before, and it’s been documented that the team refused to wear them, opting instead for an all-burgundy “CR” uniform.
I had not, however, ever seen a graphic of the 49ers proposed CR, so I had my doubts that the alleged all-gold uniform ever made it past the initial proposals. Is the 49ers jersey pictured in the tweet an actual prototype jersey created to show the 49ers, or is that just a jersey someone had created as a possible alternate?
As to the Buccaneers orange jersey: I had not heard the Bucs were being considered for an all-orange color rush uniform. I suppose it is possible, but the team ended up with an all-red CR uniform. So is the orange jersey an actual prototype or a just a possible orange alternate jersey?
Let’s take a closer look at the front and back of each:
If you look closely at the jerseys, they are different templates (the 49ers jersey appears to be style with the distinct “triangle” at the base of the neckline, which wasn’t used on 49ers jerseys until 2017). The Buccaneers jersey, on the other hand, is the infamous “Nikelace” design, which would have been used when the Bucs unveiled their new “Alarm Clock” uniforms (including the all red Color Rush uniform).
I don’t believe either of these jerseys are Color Rush concepts, and I’ll explain a bit more in a sec. But, for the sake of argument, let’s assume both of these are actual CR prototypes, how might both teams have looked wearing them?
In a way, I kinda wish these were actual CR jerseys. As you may remember, the San Francisco 49ers ended up going with an all-black ensemble…
…and of course the Bucs wore what might just be the worst football uniform ever designed.
I think most of us would agree, an all-gold or all-orange for the Niners and Bucs respectively, might have been a better choice for both teams.
But I don’t think either of these are actual CR prototypes. For one thing, the 49ers jersey template wasn’t used at the time the CR program was begun, so that alone makes me think it was not created as a concept for CR. Does that mean it’s not an actual prototype for a possible alternate, but was never put into production? I can’t say that for sure. It’s entirely possible the 49ers did consider a gold alternate jersey — the two red stripes on that jersey template would place this somewhere between 2017 and 2021. When I did my “2 + 3 + 2 + 3” project back in 2023, I actually gave the 49ers a gold alternate jersey (though it wasn’t designed to be worn as a full mono-gold ensemble).
So I don’t consider it out of the realm of possibility that this could be an actual gold prototype alternate.
I’m also skeptical that the orange Buccaneers jersey was for a potential color rush uniform. The CR uniforms — for those teams that had special jerseys created — generally removed secondary colors. The jersey shown in the tweet features a pewter yoke and red “wedge” accents between the yoke and jersey body. But the Bucs’ eventual CR jersey made the yoke and jersey red, removing any traces of orange that was present on their primary red jersey. I would think a potential prototype CR jersey would follow the same pattern, removing all traces of red and removing the pewter yoke.
But again, does this mean the jersey shown in the tweet isn’t a possible alternate prototype? No. It absolutely could be.
Finally there is the source. The name “Parker Nordstrom” doesn’t ring a bell with me. If you google Parker Nordstrom, it’s not really bringing up any information that is of assistance. There is a Parker Nordstrom on Twitter, but I’m not sure that’s the same Parker Nordstrom as is being referenced in the tweet.
So, bottom line is I’m honestly not sure what these jerseys are. I don’t think they’re CR prototypes, but could they be potential alternates? Absolutely. But could they just be some high-quality fashion jerseys that were never meant to sniff the griditon? That’s entirely possible too. If any of you guys — particularly collectors or aficionados — and can lend your thoughts, I’d love to hear what you think!
June 12, 2007. Verlander no-no in tigers 4-0 win over Brewers at Comerica Park, Detroit, Mi.
A lot of vintage Tigers boards lately…
I lean to that 49ers one being real only because I remember when the NFL and Nike did the launch in Fall 2016, that was the introduction of that template for the Color Rush jerseys and that it would be transitioned over to everyone else the next season.
Here’s an example of the triangle part at the collar for Washington
link
I had the same thought, I think the color rush jerseys were on a different template that eventually was used for all uniforms the following season.
Correct, most of the newly-introduced Color Rush jerseys in 2016 were in the Vapor template, whereas teams that wore their regular jerseys as part of a Rush combo tended to just use their existing Elite jerseys (or Reebok-construction jerseys for those teams that never used the Elite design). There are a few exceptions: the Raiders and Seahawks used the Elite template for their 2016 Color Rush jerseys, while the Titans, curiously, had the Vapor template for their Rush jerseys, even though they were otherwise identical to their regular Columbia blue jerseys, which were still in the Elite template.
I’m surprised hour much I like that orange Buccaneers jersey. Or, not so much like it, as prefer it any of their other “alarm clock” uniforms. Is still bad, but the orange makes it more vibrant and almost passable.
GTGFTU
5 Oct 2017
Brady and the Leucistic Pats defeats the aforementioned not orange Color Rushed Bucs 19-14 at RJ Stadium.
I love when I learn a new word courtesy of perspicacious Uni-Watchers ….
GTGFTS: 12 Jun 2007, Brewers 0 – 4 Tigers, Justin Verlander’s first no-hitter
GTGFTU: 5 Oct 2017, Week 5, Patriots 19 – Buccaneers 14, only appearance of Patriots’ all-white uniforms.
GTGFTU Personal Note I knew it was going to be an awful looking game, so I made sure my wife used our ticket instead of me!
Sorry, but that Bucs CR look doesn’t come close to the “worst football uniform ever designed” conversation.
Any specifics on ones you think were worse?
Not the OP, but I’d say that even just the Bucs’ standard combo (red over pewter) from that era was much worse.
Sure, the CR was total overkill on red, but removing the pewter yokes from the jersey actually improves the overall uniform, in my opinion.
That’s actually a big part of what I was thinking. It’s hard to include the CR uniform in that conversation when the other sets from the same year are markedly worse.
Others that spring to mind (in no particular order):
1) Adrian Peterson era Minnesota home purples
2) Montreal Alouettes 2000-2018 (home and away, some brutal alternates as well)
3) Many years for Arizona Cardinals
4) Same for the Falcons (my team)
5) Current Titans set
6) The infamous Tampa Bay set referenced here
7) Some Seahawks years
8) Tons of failed throwbacks – the one that really gets me is the current Saints one with the awful mismatched golds
9) UFL? XFL? All those random leagues?
10) There are probably dozens of college uniforms to go with, I’m just not familiar with them
Agreed with OP here, but maybe I just like that uni because it’s an improvement over the shoulder yoke look with the alarm clock uniforms. Also, of the many color rushes, Mono-red looked a lot better than, say mono gold: link
Yeesh! Add that one to my list.
Yikes, I tend to forget how awful that Bucs uniform was until I see photos of it. Ditto for the Niners all black below the waist look.
Redskins was the name not ‘skins
Whatever, it’s a racist slur. No need to use it here.
stop it. i guess we shouldn’t call the seahawks the hawks or the dolphins the fins, patriots the pats, or the 49ers the niners. people shorten names, and millions of people called them the skins, it’s not that deep
Yes. And many still call them by the original name. The name they grew up with.
Niners. Bucs. Seems consistent if not natural.
Gold jersey may work with white pants. Not the throwback with red black red stripe, but maybe gold red gold. Well not gold, but butterscotch pudding.
Many CR uniforms removed accents, for sure, but I feel those were mainly for the jerseys that would have been a copy-and-paste of the team’s primary white/color uniform if not for the changes. I’m not sure that rules this one out, since it wouldn’t have matched anything else in their set.
For what it’s worth, the Color Rush program was Nike’s was of introducing the new template (called Nike Vapor Elite) in 2016. No team officially switch over to that template until 2017, but almost all the Color Rush uniforms were Vapor Elite. Thus, the gold 49ers jersey could have still been a CR mock-up as the League was transition to the new template.
One interesting quirk of the Bucs’ CR uniform is that they changed the design after the first season, removing the pewter accents on the front. I’m sure it’s been commented on before, but it seems like a small difference that isn’t referenced often, so figured I’d point it out for anyone who didn’t know. Potential GTGFTU opportunity, if nothing else. :-)
2015 Season: link
2016 – Onward: link
Yeah, of course the shoulder yoke and alarm clock numbers are ugly as hell, and it would have been all-orange which is rough, but grading on a curve, I can get behind the orange bucs jerseys. Meanwhile the gold niners jersey is worse than the BFBS they eventually crapped out.
TBF the Niners have toyed with a gold version of their unis for years. They used to be listed as an alt in the older Madden games.
GTGFTS
So, the first baseman covered third base on Hardy’s first at-bat?
or what I am misunderstanding?
NM, I’m an idiot… need a nap. I first read it as the out was at third base,,,
I may be misremembering, but wasn’t there a 49ers game last season where people were saying the Nike “gold” pants looked like Caucasian flesh tone? If so, I don’t think I’d want to see Nike’s take on a mono-gold 49ers uni.
I don’t think they were fashion jerseys because those jersey cuts are on field versions (sleeves & on field tags inside the jerseys)