Wait. Let me answer that before I go any further. Money happened that’s what.
Earlier today, Pittsburgh Steelers’ Team President Art Rooney II announced that his team would be wearing their version of the NFL’s “Color Rush” uniforms on Christmas Day when they host the Baltimore Ravens. If you aren’t familiar, the color rush unis are the monochromatic bits of blasphemy the NFL has been forcing teams to wear once a season.
If you couldn’t tell already, I’m not a fan of this. I’m a fan of tradition. Each team has a “home” uniform and an “away” uniform. To prove that I can be flexible, I’ll even go so far as to grant each team an “alternate” jersey but this color rush stuff is out of control and it all goes back to money.
The National Football League has figured out what many colleges (Ahem!! Oregon!) have had figured out for years. The more jerseys you have the more jerseys you sell. Not a difficult equation to figure out now is it? I am the way I am because I’m a Steelers’ fan and there are very few teams in any sport with a tradition like ours.
Unfortunately, not even the tradition-rich Steelers and the Rooney Family could tell Roger Goodell and the League “no” so for your Christmas present this year we’ll be given the monochromatic Steelers. Yeah….. Uh, no.
Although it will be a couple of more weeks before the design is unveiled, common sense tells us what to expect. The uniforms could be all-black, all-gold or all white. I really can’t see anything outside of those three options and quite frankly anything other than those would be mystifying and down-right stupid.
I realize the rest of my SCB crew will be mocking me for being a curmudgeon within minutes of this article’s publication but I don’t care. Tradition is important. Ask an Alabama fan if they’d like to see changes to their uniform and you’ll likely be smacked across the face for even suggesting it.
Sadly, money has its grip on the NFL just like every other entity in America so I can’t be surprised by this. I’m just saddened to see the Steelers give in to it. Tradition is dying at an alarming rate and if you think I’m overreacting then get off my lawn!
Photo courtesy returnofkings.com
Traditions don’t always last and you know that and better yet people retire old traditions and start new ones. When the Steelers first came out with there 1933 uniforms people were like how could anybody wear those things and yet If you go to training camp or a game you will find fans wearing them and I don’t see many people complaining about them so why complain now? If the unis look great then there great if not who cares? We are just fans we can’t control what front offices do or don’t do, we aren’t making the money they make nor do we have the power they do so to me I don’t care and why you do is your own opinion.