Every year, a group of the incoming draft picks heads to Los Angeles for what’s known as the Rookie Premiere, an event at which players don their uniforms and pose for a variety of photos that will be used on trading cards.
This year, despite the lockout, the event will nevertheless occur. But a source with knowledge of the plans says that, for the first time ever, the rookies will be wearing their college uniforms.
Whether that makes the trading cards more or less valuable remains to be seen. For now, our guess is less.
UPDATE: The NFLPA contends that the players will be wearing pro jerseys with their college numbers. Which means that Cam Newton will wear a Panthers jersey with the number 2 even though that number currently belongs to Jimmy Clausen. Per our source, the plan as of yesterday was for the players to wear college jerseys.