Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Back when the San Diego Chargers decided to change their jerseys the first time back in 2007, my initial reaction was lukewarm at best. There was something sacrilegious about changing the threads that had been associated with my favorite team throughout the course of my life, and it just didn’t sit well with me. This latest change, however, gets nothing but praise from my perspective.
The differences are subtle (as seen in the photo above), and I must admit that I overlooked them in the ecstasy of finally having the team address a glaring need along the offensive line with their first round draft choice for the first time in years with their selection of D.J. Fluker. If you look closely, the nameplate on the back of the uniform was altered. Executive Vice President – Chief Executive Officer AG Spanos explained the thinking behind the changes to the team’s website saying:
“We changed the nameplate on all three of the jerseys. We had wanted to go to a two-color font. Most teams in the league use a two color font and it really highlights the name. It looks a little bit sharper and a little bit more modern. We ended up changing the primary color on the nameplate font on the navy jersey to gold, it’s reminiscent of the 1980’s teams because they had gold nameplate font as well.”
One for one with these changes. There is nothing better than the old color scheme that the Bolts had back during the Dan Fouts days, and this alteration really harkens back to those memories.
The team continued the jersey makeover with a change to the collar of the uniform. Spanos explained the thinking behind this tweak as well.
“We switched to what is called a self-color collar. Basically the collar is going to be the same color as the jerseys. So on navy it will be navy, on white it will be white and on powder it will be powder. Last year we had a white collar that ended in a square and there were comments about it looking like a neckroll. The Chargers are not alone, there are six teams changing their collars this year without making major changes to the uniform just as we are.”
This switch makes it two for two as I just never cared for the varying colors on the collar. Not to try and sound like a fashionista here or anything, but it just made it look like they were trying way too hard.
The final change has yet to be seen, but it sounds fantastic. The team’s socks will now feature a gold stripe halfway up the sock to kind of tie in the old color scheme with the name plate alteration. This will really further emphasize the back to the future look of these changes and give the new-look Bolts a fresh new style to go along with their overhauled personnel and coaching staff.
While the old adage remains true that the suit doesn’t make the man, the 53 guys wearing these uniforms will look good on Sundays with these changes. Not only will the Chargers be looking for different results on gameday this NFL season, but they will also be looking good while trying to achieve that desired outcome.
Anthony Blake is a Senior Writer/Copy Editor for Rant Sports. You Can Follow Him on Twitter, on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.
