Whether you're lounging on any given Sunday to watch your favorite NFL team battle it out with a popular rival, or cheering in your living room and jumping up and down as you're watching history play out in the next Super Bowl, there's one thing that you know. You really love football. Football is a relatively young sport, and it has changed since it first came to the professional fore in the 1920's. For one, the NFL jerseys that players wore way back when kept on changing, and football franchises constantly changed their uniforms as though to outdo each other in style. A jersey would usually be made of wool, and believe it or not, for a gladiator-like sport that was liable to crack a few skulls, there were hardly any helmets to be found.
When the 1930's came, however, it became mandatory to wear helmets. The jerseys were still dull: the fabric was still thick and often hot to wear, and the colors were basic. Some teams in the major leagues began the process of showing off their numbers in order to identify players. In the 1940's, a new helmet style emerged, and the first helmet design was unfolded. For instance, a player of the Los Angeles Rams decided to paint the horns of a ram on his helmet. Jerseys kept on being modified, as teams found their identity through different colors and color combinations.
In the 1950's, leather helmets gave way to plastic ones. In the 1960's, new uniforms came into being, including the power blue of the San Diego Chargers. Helmets had face masks, and jersey makers became more creative, if not bewildering. Take, for instance, how some uniforms were striped, from the jerseys right down to the socks. This wild streak continued well into the 1970's, as though the age of Disco found itself on the football field. There were color combinations that were unusual, as well as colors that were bright enough to blind football fans everywhere. This wildness seemed to simmer down when the 1980's came along, as players invested in deeper colors and ushered in what became a uniform boom in the next decade.
NFL Jerseys now sell for thousands of dollars, and popular teams can make a killing on jersey sales alone. Moreover, some teams have opted for alternate jerseys that can be worn at different times in the year. For instance, throwback uniforms are traditional for games that are played during the Thanksgiving holidays.
