Tag: 49ers uniforms

49ers to debut red 1994 throwback jerseys in home opener

The San Francisco 49ers are breaking out their red 1994 throwback uniforms.

The San Francisco 49ers are breaking out the red 1994 throwbacks.

As part of the team’s State of the Franchise on Wednesday night, the 49ers announced they’ll be bringing back the red version of the 1994 throwback uniforms they first broke out in white during the 2018 season. They’ll debut the red jersey in the home opener Week 3 vs. the Packers on Sunday Night Football.

The jerseys are red with white numbers featuring the black drop shadow that they wore during their Super Bowl XXIX victory over the Chargers. They’ll pair the jersey with the white pants they wore with their white 1994 throwback jerseys.

These 1994 throwbacks are actually a throwback themselves. The NFL did special uniforms for their 75th anniversary season in 1994, and the 49ers wound up sporting theirs for effectively the entire year en route to a 13-3 finish and their fifth Super Bowl.

According to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco, the 49ers will wear the 1994 editions of their uniforms in six games. Four of them will be the reds at home. They’ll wear the whites twice on the road.

Matt Barrows of the Athletic reported the 49ers received permission from the NFL to rock the throwback uniforms six times as part of the team’s 75th anniversary celebration. Typically clubs are only allowed two weeks to wear alternate uniforms.

The four home games will be in Week 3 vs. the Packers, Week 7 vs. the Colts, Week 10 vs. the Rams and Week 15 vs. the Falcons. They’ll wear the road whites in Week 13 at Seattle and Week 16 at Tennessee. Five of those six are prime time matchups, with the lone exception being the Falcons.

49ers should not be among teams taking advantage of relaxed helmet rules

The San Francisco 49ers’ gold helmet is iconic, and shouldn’t be messed with even with the NFL’s relaxed rules on helmet color.

The NFL is relaxing more uniform rules. According to a memo distributed by the league, teams will be allowed to wear more than one color helmet beginning in 2022. Teams previously had been allowed to change the logo on helmets, but the base color was to remain the same. Some teams like Seattle or Tampa Bay can take advantage of the relaxed regulations with throwbacks featuring their old, different-colored helmets. The 49ers should not be among the teams impacted by the new rule.

The memo specifies that teams using a different helmet for throwback uniforms have to maintain historical accuracy. A throwback look wouldn’t require a change for the consistently gold-capped 49ers. The league also allows for a changed helmet to match the color rush uniforms, which is where the 49ers could get weird.

While San Francisco has undergone a slew of uniform changes over the years, one constant in their altered looks has been their gold helmet. Even when the sheen changed, or the facemask was altered, or the stripes were redone – the gold helmet was a staple of the 49ers’ iconic red and gold uniforms.

Changing it for the sake of matching the all white uniform or even a new iteration of the black jerseys would be an affront to one of the NFL’s classic uniforms. If the uniform set doesn’t work with a gold helmet, it should be scrapped. RIP to the all-black color rush set (2015-17).

The last time they tried changing the helmet came with disastrous results. They introduced a gold helmet with a new logo in 1991 that received so much backlash they didn’t even try and roll it out during the season.

That’s not the only iconic look they’ve at least tried changing in the past. From 1996-2008 they wore a completely different shade of red. They tweaked the scarlet and gold look they made famous in the 80s with a deeper red color and a uniform set that featured a variety of trim colors and shadowing on the numbers. It eventually became clear the brighter red was the superior shade.

Trying to make new alterations with the helmet color would be a completely unnecessary move. The 49ers’ gold helmet is among the NFL’s classic, most recognizable uniform features. They already tried messing with it once, so it’s hard to believe they’re overly eager to do it again.

49ers to wear all white throwback uniforms vs. Rams

The 49ers are breaking out their 1994 throwback uniforms vs. the Rams.

The 49ers on Sunday are breaking out their all-white throwback uniforms according to a tweet from kicker Robbie Gould.

San Francisco went 2-0 last year in the replicas of the road uniforms they wore during the 1994 season, which were a throwback set worn during the NFL’s 75th anniversary celebration. They first wore them in a home drubbing of the Panthers, then suited up in them for the NFC West clincher at Seattle in Week 17.

They debuted the modern throwback set in 2018 at home against the Rams with disastrous results. They last that game 39-10, then didn’t wear them again that season.

The 49ers are hoping to recapture some of the magic the all whites carried a year ago while exorcising the demons of that Week 7 loss to the Rams two seasons ago. San Francisco badly needs a win to keep their fading playoff hopes alive. At 2-3, their margin for error is extremely slim, and a loss to the 4-1 Rams would be very damaging.

Uniforms don’t have any impact on the outcome, but the old adage is that players play well when they look good. And given that this is the 49ers’ best uniform set, it’s going to be hard for them to look better. Now they need the play to go with it.

 

49ers to wear all white throwback uniforms vs. Seahawks

The 49ers on Sunday are throwing it back to the last time they won the Super Bowl.

The 49ers on Tuesday announced their uniform choice for their season finale on the road in Seattle. Instead of going for the traditional road whites, San Francisco is going to wear their all white, 1994 throwback uniforms.

The throwbacks offer a dramatically different look than their traditional road whites. Traditionally the team wears white jerseys with gold pants to go with their gold helmet. Sunday they’ll have the 1994 throwback jersey with the red numbers and black outline to go with the white pants with the red and black piping down the side.

Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

It’s an extremely clean look that garnered a lot of attention when they were announced as part of last season’s uniform set.

Week 17 in Seattle will be the third time San Francisco’s worn these iterations of the uniform, and the first time they’ve done so on the road.

Their first foray into the throwback look last season didn’t go well. They got whacked 39-10 at home against the Rams. The 49ers dusted off the throwbacks again this season in Week 7 against the Panthers. That went dramatically better for San Francisco in a 51-13 rout of Carolina.

It’ll be an opportunity for the 49ers to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC in the same uniforms they wore the last time they won the Super Bowl.