Those supposed Nike uniform sketches are fake

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on November 19, 2010, 1:51 PM EST

So PFT has received a bunch of emails over the last couple of days from readers sending us pictures of supposed “concept sketches” of future NFL uniforms by Nike that leaked to the web.   The shoe company takes over as the league’s official supplier in 2012.

Darren Rovell of CNBC has confirmed the pictures are fakes, apparently made to trick fans and send them into a frenzy.  It basically worked.

I have to give credit here to Florio for quickly smelling a rat.  He didn’t want to post about them because he never bought they were real, even after the Ravens’ official blog wrote an article breaking them down.   (You can see all 32 fakes there.)  Bill Belichick was even asked about the supposed Patriots uniform on Friday.

“Is it Halloween?” Belichick said via Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald.   “Wasn’t that last month?”

More like April Fool’s Day, which should especially be a relief to Patriots and Steelers fans.  Man, those unis are ugly.

UPDATE: The NFL also confirmed the pictures were fakes.

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25 responses to “Those supposed Nike uniform sketches are fake”

  1. Unless I misunderstand, Nikes not going to be allowed to design new “team designs” for these guys to wear…. just a new jersey.
    I’m sure it’ll be like the NHL a few years ago…the Bruins still wear a big spoke’d B, the Maple Leafs still have the big blue leaf on the front…

    I’m sure it’ll be “sleeker” or something equi-ridiculous.

  3. I’m not a journalist, but with two minutes and few mouse clicks I figured out that the sketches were not official designs and done by art/design students or something like that.

    This was 4 or 5 days ago.

    It took this long to confirm?

    weak.

  4. I don’t by for one minute that these were a fake – why? for what purpose.

    Don’t be pattin your boss too hard on the back Greggy – more likely these were prototypes that got out before Nike wanted them to.

  6. It also looks like it’s a black guy modelling the Tom Brady uniform in the photo. Notice the arm on the bottom right of the photo. FAIL.

  8. These are fake! Unless the Teams have adopted new team logos, and signed off on the creation of these jerseys, then Florio was right on the money. This isn’t the XFL or some videogame, yes some of them are pretty sweet, but your adopting new logos, changing the base color schemes, and everthing else. Look at the Cardinals jersey, at a quick glance they look like the current falcons uniforms with the colors they used. However, I think you guys should dig into this deeper and see if this has been brought up between owners, and if they really are considering this, or something similar when Nike takes over.

  9. I’m sure these are fake but if you take a look at some of the Nike uniform designs being used for special college games (like the OSU v. Michigan game next week) I can see why someone would fall for it.

    When was the last time a team changed it’s uniforms for the better anyway? The Pats, Bills and Vikings all come to mind and I think their uni’s were better before the switch.

  11. Some of those are really sweet looking while others are just ugly, and some look like AFL teams. The Bengal one is pretty cool.

    The Viking one is just like their season, garbage. It needs the yellow to be white, and the helmet to be pure purple with the horn logo.

  13. Florio is 100% better at spotting a fake than he is at picking winning teams each week. I wonder why that is? More knowledge of fakes than football maybe? LOL

    But really, some of the helmet logos are backwards and the sock length doesn’t conform to NFL rules. Not too hard to determine these are a hoax.

  14. They’re not fake, in the sense of intentionally deceptive. They were originally posted on a message board and clearly said to be concepts created by a fan.

  15. I agree with Paytonwantsaflag,

    Why would an independent artist take THIS MUCH time doing this? And they look a lot like the Nike uniforms being used by many college programs.

    I think Nike let these leak by accident and are trying to cover their tracks because the NFL, the teams, or any other people didn’t give them the nod.

    That said, although they look like the uniforms on the NFL Blitz video game, I think they’re pretty sweet.

  16. some of those jerseys are sick and would def bring a new look to the league. the jets, eagles, ravens and cardinal jersey are real nice. i like the browns jersey with the under armor designed under the jersey it looks cool. the chiefs could be worked on a little…the vikings and jaguars look terrible

  17. Some of them were pretty ugly. Somebody put a lot of work in. A LOT. I liked the Chiefs jerseys. A few of them were really good. Too bad they were fakes. KC could use a Tampa Style uniform update.

  19. connie75 says: “This dolphins one is hilariously bad
    http://lulzimg.com/i8/e26967d0.png”

    Actually, I kind of like that one; it’s an improvement over the current “home” uniform.

    There were some pretty interesting designs in this collection — all of which, no doubt, cause outrage among “real fans” of the teams.

    The Patriots’ design, in particular comes to mind: http://lulzimg.com/i8/853f84c4.png

    I also liked the second Chiefs’ alternate: http://lulzimg.com/i8/208d60bb.png

    I will second godofwine330’s observation about the amount of work — and resources –that went into creating these. Wow. Whatever we might think of them, you’ve got to respect the effort.

  20. thats to bad because those jerseys look crazy. i love the bengals njets ones.. i think somemore thinkin needs 2 be put into browns on put a logo or write browns on the helmet or somethin just boring.. but i love the sketches and ideas .. the pats one is crazy. i love them

  21. yah i actually liked the dolphins one, i liked the jags black ones.. i def like the vikings ones. i liked almost everyone i seen except the chiefs one…

    n for all u retards. its PREMATURE SKETCHES!!! the jerseys are 2 years away their trying to gauge interest. and i love the designed.. im still tryin to find the giants ones the link on the ravens side doesnt work when u click view all 32 teams

  22. Why does Nike want to change the uniforms? Because they haven’t evolved? There’s no particular need for evolution here. That these are conceptual images is disturbing in that they indicate they’re serious about changes in that direction.

    The Patriots one was a hideous attempt to recapture the 1970s-80s era (except the helmet logo was backwards) NONE of those designs looks like anything but a mixture of football with James Caan’s Rollerball. I hesitate to find the Titans and Chargers ones based on what these images offered.

  23. The uniforms they should use –

    1995-9 Patriots as 2nd alternates (and when they bust out the old reds, use the 1976 reds with the stripes on the sleeves instead of the shoulders)
    pre-1997 Broncos with the modern aerodynamic logo
    1998 Falcons
    Throwback Vikings
    1977-97 Jets logo as throwbacks (the 1960s logo has worn out its appeal)
    1980s-2006 Chargers as 2nd alternate
    Oilers blue-white for Texans
    1960s Raiders gray
    1976-2001 Seahawks lighter blue and old logo as alternates

  24. As a designer, I can assure you that no one put in all this effort just to cause a stir unless that someone was also being paid by Nike to do so, as a publicity stunt.

    Also: Early design prototypes often look “weird” (read: awesome, but scary to squares and the elderly), then conservative stakeholders pound them back toward the “norm.” That’ll happen here too.

    And anyone who thinks the Patriots uniforms posted above look stupid has clearly lost touch with his or her inner child. Football is a sport, and the uniforms are costumes. These guys *should* look like super heroes, not military soldiers … so I, for one, think the Captain America motif is hot.

  25. Most likely they were art student renderings for a class or most likely concept drawings Nike used in their bid to the NFL to take over the equipment contract. I would not be surprised to see some version of some of these in the next few years. As comments here show, some of them are pretty slick (love the Colts blue helmet). Though to the Canadian Vikings fan, the Bengals version is way to busy and looks like somebody vomited up orange ice cream on a white board

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