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Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years

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The reactions to the New York Giants’ new alternate jersey for 2024 have been – mostly – brutal. And with good reason.

They might just be one of the ugliest uniforms in NFL history.

And given the way some of the older uniforms looked, that’s saying something.

Judge for yourself.

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years

I’m not sure who put this together and said: “Yes, this is what we’re presenting to our client!”

But they need to be unemployed for this. Possibly even limited to janitorial service work for the rest of their natural lives too.

There’s just nothing appealing there.

And what’s with the tan pants?

Last I checked the Giants were red, white, and blue. But tan?

And nice rip off of the Michigan Wolverines’ helmet design too.

I get that back in the 1930s the Giants’ helmet had a similar look. But there was enough of a difference between it and the Wolverines’ helmet to make it acceptable.

The one thing I’ll give this design: It’s not the absolute ugliest uniform an NFL team has rolled out.

That honor goes to the jailhouse uniform design trotted out by the Pittsburgh Steelers about a dozen years back.

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years 1

Seriously? That puts the “ugh” in ugly.

But I suppose it could have been worse. Check out what the Chicago White Sox made their players wear in 1976.

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years 2

Even worse, here in Colorado, they decided to make a major league baseball team look like a Sunday beer league softball team instead with these “City Connect” uniforms.

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years 3

This was just lazy work. Basically they just took the state’s basic license plate and slapped it on the uniform.

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years 4

The good news for Dallas Cowboys fans is that we haven’t had to suffer such indignities. Aside from the Color Rush uniform gimmick the NFL foisted on every NFL team of course.

No Huge Swings In Dallas

The Cowboys really haven’t messed with their look over the decades. The team has been blue, white, and silver – in varying shades of the main colors.

The star on the helmet began as a simple blue star on a white helmet before becoming a blue star outlined by a larger white star and another, larger, blue star.

In 1976 the Cowboys played with a red stripe added to the helmet for a nice red, white, and blue crown.

The uniform has been home white and road dark blues with slight variations over the years.

Some years there was a star on top of each shoulder pad with a number below. Some times it was a number on the pad and stripes — two or three — on the sleeves below.

Depending on the season, a patch would appear. Some years the hues would darken or lighten. But it was easy to identify the team that the uniform belonged to.

Unlike other teams that have made bigger swings – namely the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who went from Creamsicle Orange to pewter and red.

Or the Seattle Seahawks who went from a nice looking blue, green, and white to greyish green and neon green. At least they left the bird alone on the helmet.

Tampa Bay jettisoned their swashbuckling buccaneer for a pirate flag.

The 1960s

Here’s some examples of the Cowboys uniforms over the years.

Eddie LeBaron was the Cowboys first starting quarterback to don the home whites and the road blues in the early 1960s.

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years 5

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years 6

By the time the decade was drawing to a close, Don Meredith was the starting quarterback and the helmet and uniforms had taken on their iconic looks.

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years 7

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years 8

The 1970s

The 1970s saw one significant change. Tex Schram went to a different pant color – one that did not match the silver helmets the Cowboys wore.

Then again, the star on the helmet is a darker blue than the blue numbers on the white jersey so why nitpick, right?

The color eventually became named “Cowboys Star Blue”. It isn’t quite blue, or grey, or silver.

But it was iconic.

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years 9

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years 10

The 1980s saw little change.

The numbers were tweaked a little on the road blues. And in 1984, the Cowboys wore a 25th Anniversary star on their uniforms.

This matched the logo at midfield at Texas Stadium that season.

IRVING, TX - DECEMBER 11: Quarterback Danny White #11 of the Dallas Cowboys passing in a game against the Washington Redskins on December 11, l983 in Irving, Texas. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images)

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years 13

1984 preseason game = Packers at Cowboys- photo by Richard Paolinelli

Not the best photo of the logo, but I couldn’t find one online and I was shooting from across the stadium and in the upper stands that night in 1984.

The Jerry Jones Era

There’s been a few variations over the years since Jerry Jones bought the team in 1989.

Teams started offering alternate jerseys – seeing a way to rake in the merchandise cash. Here’s a few examples over the years.

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years 15

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years 16
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens (81) scores in the fourth quarter as New York Giants safety Gibril Wilson (28) pursues in the fourth quarter of their NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007, in Irving Texas. The touchdown came on a 47-yard touchdown pass. (AP Photo/L.M. Otero)

** ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITONS, DEC. 1-3 ** Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) runs to the right looking for a receiver in the 2nd half of a football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , Thursday, Nov. 23, 2006, in Irving, Texas,. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Cowboys’ jerseys have remained uniform through the years 18

But overall the iconic Cowboys look has remained surprisingly uniform. Given the team’s storied history, don’t look for that to change anytime soon.

In other words, we won’t need to worry about unseating the Giants and Steelers for worst uniform variants ever.

Richard Paolinelli

Staff Writer

Richard Paolinelli is a sports journalist and author. In addition to his work at InsideTheStar.com, he has a Substack -- Dispatches From A SciFi Scribe – where he discusses numerous topics, including sports in general. He started his newspaper career in 1991 with the Gallup (NM) Independent before going to the Modesto (CA) Bee, Gustine (CA) Press-Standard, and Turlock (CA) Journal -- where he won the 2001 Best Sports Story, in the annual California Newspaper Publishers Association’s Better Newspapers Contest. He then moved to the Merced (CA) Sun-Star, Tracy (CA) Press, Patch and finished his career in 2011 with the San Francisco (CA) Examiner. He has written two Non-Fiction sports books, 11 novels, and has over 30 published short stories.

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