The Oakland Raiders are back in the playoffs! The Raiders have long been a favorite of mine. In my book I write about seeing an Oakland Raider helmet on a shelf at the local JC Penny and desperately wanting it. Why? Because the silver and black with the “pirate” football player logo was pretty awesome – especially when you’re ten!
I cam across this article setting out the history of the Raiders’ uniforms. While we think of the team as always wearing the “Silver and Black” with the awesome helmet logo, that was not always the case. In fact, the first uniforms were black and gold! Click here to read the article. From the article by Paul Lukas @uniwatch:
Moreover, Lukas notes that the numbers were not always black, they were white, as was the original background color of the helmet logo:
Another neat thing about the Raiders uniforms is in the beginning, the Raiders showed the players’ full name on the back of the jersey!
If you’re like me, this type of history and trivia is what makes the NFL so interesting. You can read more about the history of the league, uniforms, helmets, etc. in my book: “The Evolution of Professional Football” available at sterlingmillerbooks.com
The playoffs are starting – now it gets good! Keep watching.
That’s it for now football fans.
Sterling Miller