A New Expression of Orange and Brown
by Corey
When I heard about this study, I knew I had to respond. Say what you will about the Browns uniforms, but worst in the entire NFL? Don't make me laugh. I decided to e-mail Paul Lukas, author of the excellent and meticulous column Uni Watch, because, as far as I'm concerned, no one in the world is better qualified to judge NFL fashions. Here's what Paul had to say:
On a more specific note, I would like to devote a disproportionally large amount of space to discussing a topic that interests me greatly: the Browns' socks. Bear with me, this is going to get technical, but it will have a point, eventually. Here is a detailed history of Cleveland Browns sock fashion, 1999-present:
From the rebirth of the franchise in '99 until October of '02, they had only two uniform combos: white jerseys/white pants, and brown jerseys/white pants. With the former they wore the same quintuple-striped socks they'd always worn with white jerseys (brown-orange-brown-orange-brown), and with the latter they wore a style of sock extremely similar to the one they'd always worn with brown jerseys (all brown on top, then stripes of white-orange-white-orange-white-brown). Here and here are examples of the two styles.
The 2002 season, though, saw the introduction of the horribly ugly orange jerseys, which, for some reason, brought new socks with them. These socks were all brown, as seen here. For the remainder of the '02 season, the Browns toyed with different combinations, trying out the all-brown socks with all three jersey colors, eventually settling on a pattern of wearing the new socks with brown or orange jerseys, and traditional quintuple-striped socks with white jerseys.
In 2003, however, a number of changes occurred. The team brought back the orange pants of the 70's. They also changed the vertical stripes on the side of the pants (previously orange-brown-orange; now either brown-orange-brown, brown-white-orange-white-brown, or brown-white-brown, depending on the jersey/pants combo). And while they continued to sport the classic, quintuple-striped socks on days when they wore orange pants with white jerseys, they adopted the all-brown socks for all other combinations (including orange pants with brown jerseys, weirdly enough).
Now this irked me greatly. They had more or less abandoned the classic, striped socks that they'd worn for 57 years. If ever there was an example of change for the sake of change, this was it. What makes the Browns uniform great is its refusal to change! Besides, the all-brown socks are a hundred times uglier than the striped ones, from a purely aesthetic perspective.
The sock usage pattern of 2003 held for all of 2004. This year however, as Paul Lukas so correctly points out, the Browns went back to the striped socks for all four of their preseason games! Now, because they were also wearing the white jerseys for all four of those games, we don't yet know whether the all-brown sock experiment is completely over, or if the all-brown socks will still be worn with brown or orange jerseys, as was the case for the second half of 2002. I hope beyond hope that the former is the case, though it doesn't seem likely. One thing's for sure: we won't get our answer in Week 1, since the Browns will be wearing white jerseys. How do I know this? The Bengals website is kind enough to tell us what hideous uniform combination they will be wearing, which, this week, is black-on-white. Thus, white jerseys for the Browns.
So, what is my ultimate Browns uniform usage pattern? Unlike Paul, who is ambivalent, I am completely in favor of the orange pants, if they are only worn a few times each year. I am vehemently against the orange jerseys, which should be restricted to the team shop. For the white jerseys/white pants combo, I would love to see the Browns continue to wear the striped socks like they have this preseason (and I actually prefer the brown-orange-brown vertical pant stripes they have now, as opposed to the orange-brown-orange stripes of pre-2003). For the brown jerseys/white pants combo, I would like to see the team revert to the socks of 1999-2002. And for the white jerseys/orange pants combo, keep it the way it's always been. I could do without the brown jerseys/orange pants combo altogether, but if you must wear it, do so with the socks from the brown/white combo.
Finally, I thought it might be amusing to investigate whether the Browns perform better in any particular style of jersey, pant, or sock. Here is a set of "uni standings" that spans a period from the preseason of '01 to the preseason of '05 (in other words, all the games for which I could find archived photos):
Well, that's all. I promise not to talk about socks or pants stripes for a long time. A huge thanks to Paul Lukas for offering me his opinions and writing such a great column. Kickoff is only two days away, Browns fans!
I happen to agree with almost everything Paul says here, with the exception of my being biased towards the Browns. Paul generally prefers the classic style (of say, Green Bay) to the modern style (of say, Denver). In fact, I think, if I were really trying hard to be objective, I would rank Green Bay as my favorite NFL jersey as well. If you think about it though, Green Bay's and Cleveland's uniform are quite similar. They share a basic design--a design that nearly every team used to share--with only the colors switched, and the helmet logo removed, which, as Mr. Lukas says, is a positive feature of the Browns' look.First of all, the survey sample consisted of randomly selected Americans, which means it no doubt included lots of people who aren't even football fans. Secondly, anyone who doesn't like Green Bay's uniform (they were ranked 3rd-worst in the poll) clearly knows nothing about athletic aesthetics.
My favorites among current NFL uniforms, more or less (I'm not big on rankings):People tend to think I'm nuts when I praise the Jags uni, but I think the helmet is simple and classy, the colors work well together, and I really like their number font and the gold trim around the numerals. In 20 yrs this design will be viewed as a classic (unless ownership stupidly changes it between now and then, which they probably will).
- Packers
- Cowboys (white jersey only)
- Bears
- Rams (white jersey only)
- Jaguars (turquoise jersey and white pants only)
- Raiders
My votes for worst:As for the Browns, I put them in the middle of the pack. Like, it's a perfectly okay uniform, but I don't think it's amazing or anything. I give them credit for sticking to their guns regarding the plain helmet, and it was good to see the striped socks making a reappearance in the preseason. I've always had mixed feelings about the orange pants. All in all, a solid if unspectacular design.
- Bengals
- Seahawks (solid-blue version)
- Bills (solid-blue verion)
- Cardinals (used to be fine, but the new design is a nightmare)
- Lions (used to be fine, but they ruined it a few yrs ago with all the black trim)
- Broncos
- Panthers
On a more specific note, I would like to devote a disproportionally large amount of space to discussing a topic that interests me greatly: the Browns' socks. Bear with me, this is going to get technical, but it will have a point, eventually. Here is a detailed history of Cleveland Browns sock fashion, 1999-present:
From the rebirth of the franchise in '99 until October of '02, they had only two uniform combos: white jerseys/white pants, and brown jerseys/white pants. With the former they wore the same quintuple-striped socks they'd always worn with white jerseys (brown-orange-brown-orange-brown), and with the latter they wore a style of sock extremely similar to the one they'd always worn with brown jerseys (all brown on top, then stripes of white-orange-white-orange-white-brown). Here and here are examples of the two styles.
The 2002 season, though, saw the introduction of the horribly ugly orange jerseys, which, for some reason, brought new socks with them. These socks were all brown, as seen here. For the remainder of the '02 season, the Browns toyed with different combinations, trying out the all-brown socks with all three jersey colors, eventually settling on a pattern of wearing the new socks with brown or orange jerseys, and traditional quintuple-striped socks with white jerseys.
In 2003, however, a number of changes occurred. The team brought back the orange pants of the 70's. They also changed the vertical stripes on the side of the pants (previously orange-brown-orange; now either brown-orange-brown, brown-white-orange-white-brown, or brown-white-brown, depending on the jersey/pants combo). And while they continued to sport the classic, quintuple-striped socks on days when they wore orange pants with white jerseys, they adopted the all-brown socks for all other combinations (including orange pants with brown jerseys, weirdly enough).
Now this irked me greatly. They had more or less abandoned the classic, striped socks that they'd worn for 57 years. If ever there was an example of change for the sake of change, this was it. What makes the Browns uniform great is its refusal to change! Besides, the all-brown socks are a hundred times uglier than the striped ones, from a purely aesthetic perspective.
The sock usage pattern of 2003 held for all of 2004. This year however, as Paul Lukas so correctly points out, the Browns went back to the striped socks for all four of their preseason games! Now, because they were also wearing the white jerseys for all four of those games, we don't yet know whether the all-brown sock experiment is completely over, or if the all-brown socks will still be worn with brown or orange jerseys, as was the case for the second half of 2002. I hope beyond hope that the former is the case, though it doesn't seem likely. One thing's for sure: we won't get our answer in Week 1, since the Browns will be wearing white jerseys. How do I know this? The Bengals website is kind enough to tell us what hideous uniform combination they will be wearing, which, this week, is black-on-white. Thus, white jerseys for the Browns.
So, what is my ultimate Browns uniform usage pattern? Unlike Paul, who is ambivalent, I am completely in favor of the orange pants, if they are only worn a few times each year. I am vehemently against the orange jerseys, which should be restricted to the team shop. For the white jerseys/white pants combo, I would love to see the Browns continue to wear the striped socks like they have this preseason (and I actually prefer the brown-orange-brown vertical pant stripes they have now, as opposed to the orange-brown-orange stripes of pre-2003). For the brown jerseys/white pants combo, I would like to see the team revert to the socks of 1999-2002. And for the white jerseys/orange pants combo, keep it the way it's always been. I could do without the brown jerseys/orange pants combo altogether, but if you must wear it, do so with the socks from the brown/white combo.
Finally, I thought it might be amusing to investigate whether the Browns perform better in any particular style of jersey, pant, or sock. Here is a set of "uni standings" that spans a period from the preseason of '01 to the preseason of '05 (in other words, all the games for which I could find archived photos):
W L pctNot much of a sample size, I admit. Let's not draw any conclusions (other than "the Browns suck").
Brown-over-stripes socks 3 3 .500
White jerseys 26 30 .464
Plain striped socks 18 21 .462
White pants w/ B-O-B stripe 10 13 .435
White pants w/ O-B-O stripe 15 21 .417
All-brown socks 15 25 .375
Brown jerseys 9 16 .360
White pants w/ B-W-O-W-B stripe 5 9 .357
Orange jerseys 1 3 .250
Orange pants 1 6 .143
Well, that's all. I promise not to talk about socks or pants stripes for a long time. A huge thanks to Paul Lukas for offering me his opinions and writing such a great column. Kickoff is only two days away, Browns fans!
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