Third jersey

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A third jersey or alternate jersey is a sports team's alternate design for the previously established other two jerseys, the home and away outfits. They are used in all four of the North American major professional sports leagues as well as college sports (most notably the University of Miami football team), semipro leagues, and other sports leagues throughout the world. Currently, third jerseys are primarily used in the United States and Canada [citation needed], although certain British football clubs have also initiated 'third kits'; one notable incident happened in 1996, when Manchester United were forced to change into their blue third kit at half-time because their home red kit clashed with their opponents - Southampton's - and the grey away kit was found to clash with the referees' in the first half.[1]

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[edit] Major League Baseball

After decades of wearing the same uniforms, Major League Baseball teams began to experiment with numerous designs in the early 1970s, ranging from popular designs (such as the Pittsburgh Pirates' pullover jerseys that most MLB teams later adopted) and not so popular (such as the Chicago White Sox wearing shorts).

Among such designs that were also tested were third jerseys, to break the traditional mold that baseball teams wear white uniforms at home, and gray on the road. This began in 1972 when the Oakland Athletics' flamboyant owner, Charlie O. Finley, introduced new uniforms to the team. Taking after the lead of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the jerseys were pullover spandex that would later catch on in MLB (though this would be phased out by the early 1990s in favor of the more traditional button-down jerseys), but by going one step further than the Pirates, the A's introduced alternate gold and green jerseys. The gold jerseys, lighter in color, were considered "home" alternates while the darker green jerseys were considered "away" alternates.

Soon, many teams caught on with different colored jerseys. The Pirates even went as far as to having a rotation of which jerseys to wear.

While some tradition-rich teams such as the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals have not or will not adopt a third jersey, third jerseys otherwise remain popular in baseball today, wearing either an alternate design or a throwback known as "Turn Back the Clock Night", which also includes promotions such as food prices in line with past prices and opportunities to win classic cars. In the late 1990s, some teams experimented with "futuristic" jerseys as to what that team may wear in the year 2020 (the New York Mets dubbing themselves the Mercury Mets), but this wasn't as popular with fans and was eventually dropped.

[edit] National Hockey League

In the National Hockey League, each team has its own distinctive jersey design. (Hockey tradition usually refers to jerseys as "sweaters," since hockey players actually wore sweaters on the ice until the 1960s.) Prior to 1995 each team (save for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1981-85) only had two jerseys: home (typically the team's logo on a white or in some cases, a light-colored background) and away (the same logo on a darker background) from 1971-2003 (The jersey's were switched before the 2003-04 season, the darker jerseys became the home primaries). With the introduction of the Third Jersey, teams were allowed to use a completely new jersey with a re-designed logo and layout. Following the NHL's lead, the NBA and NFL also use three jerseys. The National Hockey League will suspend the Third Jersey Program after the 2006-07 NHL season.[citation needed]

At present, the top selling third jersey in the NHL is that of the Edmonton Oilers.

[edit] Usage

The infamous, never used St. Louis jersey.
Enlarge
The infamous, never used St. Louis jersey.

Once a team has been granted permission by the league to use their new design, they are allocated ten to fifteen games during the season in which they may use their Third Jersey. They may continue to use the Third Jersey in subsequent years as well. This alternate design allowed the team's appearance to flirt with radical designs which have occasionally gone on to become the new looks for some of the participating teams, though they can also be quite garish. An infamous example is a third jersey planned to be used by the St. Louis Blues: an over-the-top mix of trumpets, musical notes and staffs, it was rejected by then-coach/GM Mike Keenan, who reportedly said that "this shirt is never going to be worn, ever". It never has: it currently sits framed in league offices, as a warning to teams designing third jerseys.[citation needed] Sales of Third Jerseys to fans have also provided significant additional income for cash-strapped NHL teams.

[edit] Chronology

Several teams have had multiple designs of their Third Jersey.

[edit] National Football League

The NFL was the last of the major professional sports leagues to adopt the third jersey rule in 2002, with the only exceptions being the 1994 season, when teams issued a throwback uniform in honor of the league's 75th Anniversary, as well as the Dallas Cowboys using the "Double Star" jerseys in addition to their current uniforms during the mid-1990s. The NFL rule states that a team may wear their third jersey only twice a year. They are no rules on wearing alternate pants.

In alphabetical order, the teams that have used third jerseys through the 2005 season:

  • Atlanta Falcons - Adopted a red alternate in 2003 when the team redesigned the uniforms. The red alternate became the primary home jersey the following season, and the black jersey is still used as an alternate today and was worn 9/17/2006 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 11/26/2006 vs. New Orleans Saints.
  • Baltimore Ravens - Introduced an alternate black jersey in 2004. Mostly used in nationally-televised games during the night time.
  • Buffalo Bills - Used the O.J. Simpson-era uniforms as alternates in 2005. These jerseys, more popular with fans over the current design adopted in 2002, is rumored to becoming the regular uniforms down the road, as early as the 2007 season. For the 2006 season, they were on 9/24 vs NY Jets and 12/3 vs San Diego.
  • Carolina Panthers - Introduced a "powder blue" alternate in 2002 that has been occasionally worn multiple times in the season. In 2005 this jersey was worn more frequently than the team's black jerseys. For the 2006 seaon, they were worn on 9/24 vs Tampa Bay and 11/19 vs St Louis.
  • Chicago Bears - Wore 1940s-era orange throwbacks in 2004 Thanksgiving Day game with Dallas. Popularity with the fans led to the team introducing an orange alternate of the current design in 2005. For the 2006 season, they were worn on 10/29 vs San Francisco.
  • Cincinnati Bengals - Introduced an orange alternate along with the redesigned uniforms in 2004. Worn during "special occasions". For the 2006 season, they were worn 10/22 vs Carolina and will be worn again on 12/10 vs Oakland.
  • Cleveland Browns - Wore orange alternates during 2002-2004 seasons. Did not wear them during the 2005 season, and have officially been dropped as of 2006. A throwback based on the 1950s team was worn on November 28th against the Cincinnati Bengals.
  • Dallas Cowboys - Used "Double Star" jerseys in 1995 and 1996 and was revived the blue "Double Star" jerseys in 2002-2003 to be worn on Thanksgiving. Since 2004, the team has worn the original 1960-1964 uniform designs as a third jersey, usually on Thanksgiving. For the 2006 season, they were worn on 11/23 vs Tampa Bay and will be worn again on 12/25 vs Philadelphia.
  • Denver Broncos - Wore the Orange Crush-era "throwbacks" in 2001 Thanksgiving game, just five years after they were retired. Wore an orange alternate of the current design in 2002 and 2004. The jersey is still active as of 2006.
  • Detroit Lions - Wore 1950s-era throwbacks on Thanksgiving in 2001-2004. Introduced a black alternate in 2005. For the 2006 season, they were worn on 9/10 vs Seattle and will be worn again on 12/24 vs Chicago.
  • Green Bay Packers - Wore 1940s-era throwbacks in 2001 Thanksgiving game with Detroit, and wore 1960s-era throwbacks in 2003 Thanksgiving game, also with the Lions. Team has otherwise not worn a third jersey.
  • Houston Texans - Introduced a red alternate in 2003. For the 2006 season, they were worn on 10/22 vs Jacksonville.
  • Indianapolis Colts - Wore mid-1950s throwbacks in 2004 Thanksgiving game with Detroit used very early in team's history. Team has otherwise not worn a third jersey.
  • Jacksonville Jaguars - Wore a black alternate in 2002-2004. Not used in 2005 but remained active. For the first time since 2004, they were worn on 11/20 vs NY Giants and on 12/10 vs the Colts.
  • Miami Dolphins - Introduced an orange alternate in 2003. Also wore "undefeated '72 Dolphins" throwbacks in 2003 Thanksgiving game with Dallas.
  • New England Patriots - Wore the "classic" Patriots throwbacks in 2002 Thanksgiving game with Detroit. Introduced a silver alternate in 2003. For the 2006 season, they will be worn on 12/17 vs Houston.
  • New Orleans Saints - Wore a gold alternate in 2002, and also wore an Archie Manning-era throwback in the same season. Currently does not have a third jersey, though the gold jersey is still sold in retail stores. However they do offer a different style of their home jerseys with gold and white stripes on the sleeves.
  • New York Giants - Introduced a red alternate in 2004. They were worn on 12/3 vs Dallas.
  • Philadelphia Eagles - Introduced a black alternate in 2003. For the 2006 season, they were worn on 11/19 vs Tennessee.
  • San Diego Chargers - Reintroduced the popular "powder blue" Chargers uniforms from the 1960s as an alternate. May eventually become primary uniform. For the 2006 season , they were worn on 10/8 vs Pittsburgh and 11/5 vs Cleveland.
  • San Francisco 49ers - Wore "1989 throwbacks" in 2002, 2005 and to be worn on 11/5/2006 vs Minnesota and 12/24/2006 vs Arizona. (even though they were still used regularly as recent as 1995). The team currently has no third jersey.
  • Tennessee Titans - Introduced a powder blue alternate of the current design in 2003. For the 2006 season, they were worn on 10/29 vs Houston and 12/3 vs Indianapolis.
  • Washington Redskins - Wore 1960s-era uniforms in 2002 as a tribute to the team's 70th Anniversary that season. Despite popularity with fans and even rumors that the uniforms would stick around as an alternate (which was worn once during the 2003 season), team currently does not have a third jersey.

The Arizona Cardinals, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders ,Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have never worn a third jersey other than the 1994 anniversary season. However, third jerseys for the Chiefs, Jets, Raiders, Rams and Buccaneers do exist as "fashion jerseys," not worn on the field but available to fans.

[edit] National Basketball Association

[edit] External links

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