Sunday, July 21, 2013

Panther all-black uniform greatest in NFL history? Many seem to think so

One of the few good moments for the all-black uniforms: Greg Olsen scored a Panther TD in one during Carolina's 36-14 loss to Denver last season. (AP photo by Bob Leverone)



OK, this seems crazy. It certainly isn't scientific. But it has actually happened, so given that Carolina's training camp hasn't started yet and the news is slow around Panther land, I will comment on it.

On NFL.com, the NFL's official website, all through July they've been running a bracket to decide the greatest uniform in league history. It started with 64 different uniforms (teams could be represented more than once). The Panthers were a No.15 seed with their all-black alternate uniform -- black jerseys and black pants -- that they debuted last year and wore just once, in a home game against Denver, which Carolina lost.

Yet somehow, that 15th Panther seed has dethroned one uniform after another (this is all based on Internet voting) until it has now reached the finals, to face the current-day San Francisco 49ers uniforms. Of the first 100,000 votes cast, the Panthers got about 91 percent of them. You can vote here -- repeatedly -- until Wednesday at 9 p.m. Eastern time.

The Panthers last defeated the San Diego Chargers' uniforms from the early 1960s in the Final Four, and by a pretty substantial margin (873,000 to 643,000).

What does all this mean? Well, not that much. Internet voting can certainly be stacked, and some Panther fans are trying hard to do so by voting over and over. But no matter what this contest says, a color combination the Panthers wore just once is not the best uniform in NFL history, and to suggest otherwise is ludicrous. (And this whole thing seems to be run pretty loosely -- originally nfl.com had the Baltimore Ravens as the Panthers' final-round opponent, but then switched it on the website to the 49ers. A miscount? Who knows?)

But this does mean one thing -- the Panthers have got to use the black-on-black ensemble (paired with blue socks) more often. It's just an alternate look, but it has caught a lot of eyeballs in this contest, and there's no real downside to wearing it. The players generally like it, too. Carolina mostly wears white in warm weather, but in November and December this one would be worth seeing several times.

Again, voting and more info can be obtained here.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bless you Scott. We will need help in the final. KEEP POUNDING!!!!!

Anonymous said...

With all this being said and the obvious fact that fans like it, Jerry and the gang will stick with those eye sore electric blue, silver and off-white uniforms going forward. Because according to Jerry, change is bad.

Anonymous said...

Panther all black beats Chargers from the 1960's? Hey, I love the Panthers but no contest on that comparison. Lance Allworth Chargers have long been recognized as best ever uniforms. I do like all black Panther uniform. Black helmet would make it even better but that's just too far off the reservation for Panther brass. Why, I'll never know.

Anonymous said...

Scott also forgot to mention the fact that the all-black uniforms have received, overwhelmingly, the most over-all votes of any other uniform. However, in true Panther fashion, we will probably only wear the all black once this year while wearing our pansy, all-white 80% of the time. It's time to retire the all-white. At least wear the black pants with the white tops.

Richard said...

I've said since day 1 that the Panthers need to wear an all black uniform more regularly. There is a simple, logical reason why: What color are panthers(the animal)? Black.

bootska said...

It only means that people with a lot of free time and no taste spend their days trolling NFL.com. You, Scott?

Unknown said...

Scott, when over 1.5 million people vote on it...the winner CERTAINLY IS the greatest uniform of all time. Why isn't it?, because you say it isn't? What other way is there to determine it?...to let a bunch of old, white sportswriters tell us what the best uniform of all time is? Pass. We'll vote on it, you just report the winner.

Anonymous said...

We wore it only 1 time AND we lost AND they said they'd never bring them out again...so if they win this then they'll bring them out again?

Anonymous said...

Scott? Why isn't it the best? Its an opinion, an unquantifiable answer the only right answer being the one given.... If it wins the best Uniform in history well, it will be just that. To the people who voted as such.

Anonymous said...

We need to get rid of those god-awful all white uniforms. They look terrible. Most of the Panthers players agree.

Anonymous said...

i think this is actually a contest fir WORST uniform. lol. Panthers have the third ugliest unis in nfl behind Jax and Bmore. Why do u guys care anyhow? North Carolina is Redskin country....always has been, always will be.

Peyton said...

NC ISN'T REDSKIN COUNTRY. That's just leftover fandom from before we had the panthers... Just about as bad as NC based New Orleans Hornets fans that refuse to get behind the bobcats until we change the name back. Really, you are more a fan of the business entity than your hometown team? GTFO

Anonymous said...

Lol yall gotta chill. Who cares what uniform they wear. All that matters is if they win. Gettin all heated that they wear all white? Sheesh

Anonymous said...

NFL uniforms need to catch up with some of the college uniforms we are seeing. The black jersey and silver pants are outdated. the all black with a black helmet would be incredible.

Anonymous said...

PantersD said...

North Carolina Deadskins fans are the reason I always pulled for the Cowboys. Even as a Panthers fan now, I still want the Deadskins to lose- just to spite the NC fans who still root for them. @Peyton: I have supported the Bobcats since their existence, but am totally fine with their changing to the Hornets- it's a good thing.

Anonymous said...

Can't Stand the blue socks with the all black uniform. Looks like a bad Jane Fonda experiment. Go with black socks to complete the look.

Anonymous said...

@ Peyton, ha so true.

Anonymous said...

If the Panthers ever wear the black pants with the blue jerseys it will be voted best uniform in sports history unanimously, by everyone in the planet including Saints fans.

Anonymous said...

they wear all white the first half of the season bc of the heat. it's only here in charlotte

nick.wright said...

If you follow the Panthers then you would know the reason we wear all white as more to do with high temperatures at thd beginning of the season and wear black when it cools off. Black is extremely hot in heat. However, I agree the black unis are my favorite and wish JR would let Nike create an alternate black helmet maybe in flat black. I hope we wear these all black on MNF vs NE this year!

Joe said...

I'm not a big fan of the black on black look. But I think the Panthers' black jerseys and silver pants combo is great. I have no idea why they don't wear it more often. They wear the all whites at home WAY too often. And I don't buy that it gives them an advantage early in the season by keeping them cool.

Unknown said...

Am I the only one who thinks they should black out the helmet too?

Anonymous said...

North Carolina was Redskins country 20-30 years ago because NC didn't have a team and the Redskins were winning Super Bowls. In the last 20 years the Redskins have won 2 playoff games total, and those were in different seasons. Meanwhile the Panthers have 6 playoff wins and a Super Bowl appearance over less time. There's more Giants, Packers and Jets fans here now than Redskins fans. But the home team IS the Panthers.

Anonymous said...

Obviously some of you care about the uniforms. Heaven only knows why.

Roger Davis said...

You sadly seemed to have mistaken your Panthers for the Dallas Cowboys. Stay out of the sun, young man.

Jase said...

What Scott failed to mention is that you can vote multiple times. I have been voting for the Panthers again and again all contest. So it's definitely not saying much, it just means Panthers fans like the uniforms so much that they'll spend their time voting for it over and over again.

Lee said...

Scott - unless I am mistaken NFL rules stipulate that alternate uniforms can only be worn twice a year. this obviously limits the number of possible appearances per year unless the team opted to make the all blacks either the primary or secondary uniform (which I am all for!).

Unknown said...

While I love the uniform, and would love an all-black (helmet too), I don't think it's because of the jersey.

If you watch the guy who's "hosting" or running the bracket, he's been so condescending about the Panthers and the jersey.

It's been one of the hot topics on the Panthers subreddit - reddit.com/r/panthers - since the bracket was posted.

Anonymous said...

http://www.nfl.com/greatestuni/round6

Check F5 Repeat
Check F5 Repeat
Check F5 Repeat

Anonymous said...

I love how everyone hates on everything on this site.

We could win the super bowl and people would say "Well you aren't a real team until you win 3 of them".

Or if we won 3 of them, "Well you don't have a REAL team unless you win 5."

On and on and on. Talk about people having too much time on their hands.

ghostgurl said...

This is a joke. The votes have been manipulated. The 49ers red and gold is obviously more attractive than the all black and boring!!

Anonymous said...

Well anyone can vote multiple times not just Panthers fans...