Eagles-Bucs '77, and unis...

Paul, if I remember, Unitas worked for a while as a color analyst in the mid-to-late 70s on CBS NFL telecasts. Though I cannot remember for sure if he was there in 1977, there is a good chance that he was, and a lower-profile (at the time) Eagles-Bucs game would have been the sort of assignment they gave him in those days. That might be why he was at the game, or I could be wrong and there might be another reason.

Unitas started doing some bits for CBS as soon as he retired after the '73 season. One, in particular, was a piece he did on Fred Dryer in 1974 that was actually pretty funny.

They ran lots of former players through the color commentator chair in those days (and still do today). If you recall, Jim Brown surfaced for a while as a color(ed) man for CBS in 1977 and '78. I remember watching Jim's first game in 1977, Rams at Packers, when they paired him with Lindsey Nelson, which I thought quite an odd combo. One of Jim's favorite lines was talking about Lawrence McCutcheon's positive running "attitude," while also praising Wendell Tyler on the Ram telecasts to which he was assigned. At the same time, he routinely downgraded John Cappelletti. The next season, 1978, CBS made another interesting pairing in the booth, going with their own answer to ABC's Monday Night threesome with their own troika of Vin Scully, George Allen (after he had been fired in preseason by the Rams), and Jim. Colorful, to say the least. "That's right, coach," would be a familiar Brown comment to Allen, whom he seemed to respect (Allen apparently was as tough on white guys as he was on blacks). Later that season, Brown got into some controversy (no surprise there), the details of which I will have to refer back to his book. Jimmy "The Greek" was involved in his infamous commentary, and the mention of "the University of Caesar's Palace" as The Greek's schooling background really did him in. Vintage stuff, but unfortunately Jim wasn't asked back in 1979. Our loss, I have always believed.

As for the Bucs' original uniforms, I am not sure if McKay had anything to do with them or not. I want to say that it was mostly Hugh Culverhouse's doing, and that at the time, Pete Rozelle wanted to make sure the new expansion teams had spiffy uniforms, logos, and a distinguishable look. The Bucs certainly qualified on all counts, as their logo of the "swashbuckling" Buc was professionally designed. Perhaps McKay had something to do with the maroon being added to the color mix later on, but it was probably part of that original and unique color scheme Culverhouse (and Rozelle) wanted. The newer Bucs logo actually looks kind of cartoonish, with the Pirate ship, compared to the original knife-in-teeth Buc.

Other uni notes. Good recollection on the Penguins, who made a conscious shift to Pittsburgh's black and gold "colors" when the Pirates and Steelers were both flying high in the late 70s (maybe it was 1979-80, there's an NHL uniform website--really!--I will refer to for the correct year). Today, the notion that any pro team would want to copy the Pirates about anything would sound crazy, though I would applaud it. I wonder if the Penguins ever bring back that old blue/black combo on retro nights at the Igloo? Or bring back Lester Binkley to show 'em how it's done in goal (I hope he's still alive!).

As for the Canucks, remember that they have done it again, doing away with the red/black/yellow "fighting" colors, now with a rich blue/black combo and the Orca whale logo, their third different color scheme. Interestingly, on the night I went up there in 2003 to watch the Canucks and Canadiens, it was "throwback jersey" night in Vancouver, and the Canucks wore their original white/green/blue uniforms with the original hockey stick logo. Indeed, in their new Orca uniforms, the Canucks have a shoulder patch with that old hockey stick logo.

A lot of the NFL teams have copied European soccer teams and introduced that "third" uniform (like the Giants with their red, and Lions with their black), strictly for merchandising purposes. The Broncos even have an orange shirt in their new design, which I think they are afraid to wear after blowing bitter losses to the Colts ('03) and Raiders ('04) wearing those orange tops. Officially, the Broncos say orange is still part of their color scheme, which it is, but they went to navy as their dominant color in 1997. The Bucs are the only NFL team I recall offhand that changed their color scheme entirely when they went to the pewter/red in the late '90s.

I can think of a couple of baseball teams that have changed their colors entirely. The White Sox did it on multiple occasions throughout the '70s and even the '80s. I remember their look through the mid '60s as being very similar to their present-day unis, before they started going nuts around 1969, intoducing a different (lighter) shade of blue as their main color, then doing another 180 turn in 1971 when they introduced red and white as their colors with those unis made famous by Dick Allen and Wilbur Wood the next few years. Of course they went to the Bill Veeck total retro outfits in 1976, with navy blue replacing red, then to a bit lighter shade of blue, along with reintroducing red, for the "license plate" unis of the mid '80s. After another design change in 1987, the Chisox finally regained their senses when they moved into the new Comiskey in 1990 when they got rid of the red and brought back their classic look, which they retain today.

Of course, the Padres dumped the taco brown and yellow for a blue/orange combo in 1991. They went to a blue/silver when moving to Petco last year. The Halos made a pretty daring set of switches themselves in the last decade, introducing periwinkle as their main color in 1997, then dumping that look and going for a red/white in 2002, the first time they had red as their dominant color. The A's wore red and navy blue in the early 60s before Charlie Finley bought the team and outfitted them in the famous green and gold instead. The Astros have also made several color changes throughout their history. Navy blue and orange alternated as their main colors, in a variety of designs (including the rainbow shirts), before the navy/gold unis of the late '80s, and then the red-dominated hues of the past few years, though I suppose navy has been one of their colors throughout. If I remember my baseball uni history, the 1950 Phils' Whiz Kids were the first to wear the red/white combo, as the Phils were predominantly navy blue before that. The Buccos didn't become black and gold until 1948 or '49, replacing blue and red. The Giants changed to black and orange from red and blue at about the same time.

I have a tremendous baseball uni book from around 1990 that I am recalling when talking about the old baseball uni history. Next time I see you I will make sure to bring it, or if you come out to visit I will make sure to have it out for a look.

There have been lots of changes in NBA colors, too, even the LA Lakers, who went from blue/white to purple/gold in 1967-68. Hard to keep track of those NBA unis, as each team seems to have several outfits. The old Buffalo Braves were black/orange before changing to that lighter blue shade in 1973-74. The Clippers, to my delight, actually wore a throwback 1970-71 Buffalo Braves uniform last week. They should have all worn Bob Kauffman's name on the backs. The Cavs have also changed colors a few times, from red/gold to orange/blue, then to the hideous black/orange/blue, and now back to a more classic deep red/gold...