When Nike became the official outfitter for the NFL, the possibilities were intriguing.
The reality has been less than that.
Apart from the Steve Grogan neck roll look that has been grafted onto many teams’ jerseys and the more-distracting-than-tinsel “flywire” at the front of the neck, Nike has fashioned for the Steelers a throwback uniform that ranks among the worst ever fashioned for any NFL team.
On Sunday, the Steelers will break out a look that looks like they broke out of prison. Sure, they’re the same shirts worn in 1934, when the Steelers were known as the Pirates. But it doesn’t mean they should be worn again.
But worn they’ll be on Sunday against the Redskins. The good news is they won’t be accompanied by the yellow helmets from past throwback outfits. The bad news is that the helmets won’t be noticed, thanks to the jerseys.
Channel Finder
Brutal…
Yuck
God awful. They’ll be a team full Hamburglers.
Make it stop, PLEASE
Looks like the referees shirts from the Steal-ers last 2 Super Bowl victories!
UGLY!!
O dear God.
Putrid.
Those jerseys are so ugly that they are cool!!! Can’t wait!
Seriously?
fugly
Those uniforms are going to STEEL the show ! lol
Wow! Throwbacks? Those aren’t throwback. Those look very similar to the ones that the referees were wearing during Super Bowl XL against Seattle.
Now if we could just get the Redskins to dress up like the Keystone Kops…
It’s a good thing NFL teams are starting to get players ready for life after professional football.
Kudos to the Steelers for dedicating a entire game to getting Harrison ready for prison strips!
Talk about an eyesore…looks like a bumble-bee costume.
indeed horrible, fitting however for the horrible, old, squealers!
I hope RG3 tears you a new one this wkend!
KILL IT!! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!!
at least the broncos dont have the worst throwbacks anymore…
The attack of the Killer Bees.
For some reason, I think that uniform will suit Ben Roethlisberger perfectly.
just made my day! i havnt laughed this hard in a long time.
Just threw up in my mouth
Why, oh why, would this team choose this particular throwback jersey? This is by far, the ugliest jersey I have ever seen.
wat do the pants look like?
With black and white television back in the day, the jersey had to be distinct enough so fans could tell the difference between the two teams out on the field.
That said, I saw a few people sporting them at the steelers/eagles game. I’m not running out to buy one–and I’m glad we have color televisions now.
i hope they play like the 1934 pirates
the jersey matches their season so far.
I think they choose this weekend in an attempt to blind RGIII
Awful! Putrid!
Now I know why they’re called “throwbacks”: You really want to throw them back where they came from.
I really hope this helps them capture the magic that was the 2-10 season of 1934.
They’re hideous. Reminds me of some of the worst jerseys found in rugby leagues like in Australia or the UK.
[bad joke about old Steelers defense wearing those unis during their rookie season]
This “prison” uniform will be perfect for the “punishment” RG III and the Skins hand out to these losers in the upcoming game. Ben won’t be able to win this game all by himself, which is the ONLY way the Steelers win games now. Pitiful team.
I don’t understand how it’s Nike’s fault that Pitt wore these in 1934 and are wearing them this year to honor the 80yr celebration.
Also, flywire may be ugly but it’s done it’s job of reinforcing the neck area, I really can’t recall seeing shoulder pads popping out of the jersey any time recently.
I have watched every Steeler game since Nfl package came out in early 90′s on DTV….
I will listen to this one.
The Steelers have had some seriously putrid throwback uniforms over the years and this is no exception.
Wow those look about how the game against the Redskins is going to look. UGLY, skins gonna tear up that old defense. Not one guy on that D can keep up with RG3 and Morris.
No wonder the Steelers never won anything prior to the 1970′s
Not a steelers fan, but i like the yellow helmets with the black jersey with bold yellow numbers and white pants or yellow pants.
As a Steelers fan, I can admit the Broncos and Jets no longer have the ugliest throwbacks ever. This is the most embarrassing thing for a Steelers fan since Ben’s nightclub incident
How are these unis selling more tickets?
I just had a seizure…
Who shot the couch?
The NFL lets them wear these jerseys, but fines players if their socks are to low, or they have the wrong color under shirts.
im not a steelers fan but that looks awesome to me. reminds me of some stuff from this desginer Thom Browne’s fall line that im pretty fond of
steelersmichele says:
Oct 24, 2012 11:18 AM
With black and white television back in the day, the jersey had to be distinct enough so fans could tell the difference between the two teams out on the field.
That said, I saw a few people sporting them at the steelers/eagles game. I’m not running out to buy one–and I’m glad we have color televisions now.
——————————–
Being that these uniforms were worn in 1934, and, considering the fact that the FIRST televised professional football game was in 1939, it is obvious that these uniforms had NOTHING to do with how they would look on TV.
The Steelers are going as bumble bees this Halloween. How cute.
Yeah they’re ugly, but I think it’s cool. Reminds younger generations (me included) of a time when the NFL wasn’t a billion dollar conglomerate with slick marketing men and millionaire design consultants.
Same reason I dig the yellow Bronco throwbacks.
Really, really glad they don’t wear these every game though.
I’d like to see it a bit more organized, where everybody wears their earliest uniform the same week. Houston and Tennessee could do the oldest 2 Oilers jerseys I suppose.
And we’d have to have some old school rematches that week, like Bears/Packers, Broncos/Raiders, Steelers/Browns.
Seriously though once a year at most. Those things hurt my eyes.
I’m a Steelers fan of 50 years’ experience. I know my team has had some truly bad uniforms over the years, just as we had some truly bad teams pre-1970s (heck, they were almost all truly bad teams).
However, out of all those bad uniforms, did they have to pick the WORST as the “throwup” uniforms? No one deserves to see such hideousness. Not even Dallas fans.
I was planning to watch this game if it is on in my area. Now, I’m not sure my eyes and brain could stand it.
I’m just glad they aren’t playing the Broncos in their old throwback unis – the ones with the vertically striped socks they wore a few seasons back. That would be really painful to watch.
“Apart from the Steve Grogan neck roll look that has been grafted onto many teams’ jerseys”
I’m glad I’m not alone on this, I was thinking it looks like neck rolls too. So terrible looking.
It gets worse: the pants are tan.
This Steeler fan wishes they’d celebrate 80 years with a patch.
I now hate Nike and their push to constantly use different uniforms (NFL and NCAA).
I guess I’m the only one looking forward to seeing these….
these are throw ups….not throw backs.
I always thought throwback unis where a way to increase merchandise sales.
You can’t tell me someone would actually buy one of those jerseys.
On the positive side, Ben will have no trouble finding his receivers (all 10 of them) with those glaring stripes and will cut up the the Redskins sorry secondary like a ripe cantelope.
What most folks aren’t considering is how nice this jersey will look with all those PINK shoes and gloves….
What in the name of Mean Joe Green is going on here? Sometimes you gotta say “its not about the money, its about dignity”. Hope the NFL and the individual teams stop trying to sell more jerseys and focus more on their respective images. Does a team like the Steelers with a long history of winning Super Bowls really need to dress like this to sell merchandise?
please fire whoever’s idea this was.
Nike has more power than the U.S. government !
It also happens to be the Redskins 80th Anniversary Season as well as the Steelers. The Skins have a 1934 throwback jersey combo for this season that I was told would be see twice this season.
I heard Bruce Allen say we would wear them once at home in November, but is it possible the Skins go with their throwbacks in this game as well?
I’ve been complaining for the last few years about our poopy brown throwback jerseys with the banana helmets.
The moral is … never complain.
But, hey, what can you do? At least these are good for a laugh … assuming we will never see them again after this year and that they don’t have any impact on how the team performs.
I cannot believe enough people in positions of governing authority thought this was a good idea on any level. To get to this stage here, it required a strong level of proactivity and presumably passage of layers of clearance and signoff.
Wow.
Glad these decision-makers weren’t in place during the Cuban Missile Crisis. They make Curtis LeMay seem sane.
Just win the damn game and nobody will care.
Is Roger Goodell responsible for this travesty as well?
What a joke of a Commish.
The 70′s teams should of worn these prison rags.
The jersey design was chosen by the Rooney’s from an old 1934 team photo. Nike had no input as this story suggests.
I agree they are terrible, but the Rooney family cares more about honoring the team’s history than designing and selling cool looking throwback jerseys.
The Terrible Towel has been replaced by The Terrible Jersey.
This is a bad omen. I see nothing good coming from this.
Yes these uniforms are awful looking, last years throwback was much better. But trust me, these uniforms won’t affect the outcome of the game. Good luck Steelers!
Hey the Steelers players’ moms worked hard sewing them bee costumes for Halloween. And who’s to say: if it works and they sting the Redskins defense like a swarm of African bees, then like the Bud commercial says: If it works, it’s not Weird.
Hey get a mental picture of Big Ben as a Big Bee or a Big Confict–you choose. It’s a win regardless of who actually wins for Skins fans just to get to laugh hilariously when Rothlisberger takes the field dressed like that. Add all the pink stuff to the costume….Man thanks NFL for lifting our economy blues.
Ugly unis to go with an ugly home loss…
Keep talking about r old defense, that is 2nd in the league in yards per game
So what are they going to do to celebrate a touchdown, break rocks on the sideline?
-QG
The best part is that the numbers make it look like they are wearing the scoreboard.
-QG
Only thing missing is a Uncle Scrooge McDuck outfit to complement the Beagle (“Bee”gle?) Boys look. Remember the Steagles? This could work on many levels… Steagle Boys hmmm….
The Steelers want to make Roethlisberger feel at home in prison where he belongs
Look at the pants – no stripes and that color, looks like stomach acid. Did the socks need to have stripes also ? – aren’t the jersey stripes enough to kill someone ?