The Big Reveal

 

Sorry, my intention was to post once we saw the uniforms yesterday....but I passed out in excitment/anxiety/elation as I was logging onto my computer.

I have really liked the uniform we've worn for the last year and a half so beyond hoping for a matte finish on the helmets I wasn't really sure I wanted to change.

That said, I really dig the new unis.  They're a modern twist on the 1970s/Emory Bellard style uniforms.

Helmet:

I've been wanting a matte finish on our helmets since I saw Mizzou first wearing it in 2009 against Kansas.  These new maroon helmets aren't quite matte but at the same time, they are certainly not the normal glossy finish - I would almost call it a candy finish. 

It's that candy paint, 84's,
Belts and buckles, chrome and grill.
Leather seat, stitch and tuck, TV screens and wooden wheels.
Suede roof, neon lights, four tires swang and bang.
Tops drop, blades chopped, fifth wheel just hangin mane.
White Tees, fitted hats, Jordans under dickies. (dickies)
That Swisher sweet, cigarillos filled up with the sticky. (sticky)
The 15's bammin' and the bass kick... kickin.
Cadillac doors slammin on them 44's, tippin.

Basically, they are awesome.

We also have a white helmet, similar to the one we wore in '09 (against Arkansas and OU).

I really like grey facemasks, but I'm a little surprised that there is so little grey elsewhere to go with it (like grey pants).  I think it looks much better on the white helmet than our maroon one did in '09.

The helmet also features an SEC pennent sticker on the back as well as one of the new block aTm outlined by the State of Texas (which I will refer to as aTm/SoT).

Tops:

Let's start with the biggie.  The SEC logo.  It is glorious.

The biggest buzz creator I think has been the beveled numbers.  I cannot stand our beveled block aTm logo so my initial feeling when I heard about the numbers was negative - but when I saw them they weren't as bad as I had imagined.  The bevel is grey on both uniform colors so it is much more visible on the white tops because it stands out more strongly on the maroon font.

We've got two stripes running from the collar down the sleeve that carries on down the undershirt sleeves.  This is a pretty clean retro look. 

It appears that our weekly 12th Man representative will have a 12th Man logo on his undershirt sleeves - it is a little cluttered and busy.  I orginally thought it was on everyone's sleeves and I wasn't really into that but since/if it is just on the one player's arm that makes it much more purposeful and actually highlights one of our coolest traditions - you and I both know that every single announcer will zero in on that on kickoffs and talk about it ad nauseum.

We did keep the small font size with TEXAS A&M on the front from last season, although the font is just slightly different.

I think what looks more odd than the bevel is the size of the numbers (proportionally) on the front of the uniform.  They look to be about 20% smaller than they have been.  The text above the numbers is the same size so if you compared it to one of last year's jerseys you can see how much smaller the numbers are.

On the back, just below the collar there is a block aTm logo.

Bottoms:

 

 
Nothing too crazy here.  There is a single stripe down the outside of the leg - and if you followed the two stripes down from the arm, the single pant stripe lines up between the two arm stripes.

At the top of the stripe, on the hip, there is the new aTm/SoT logo

Etc.:

From a performance standpoint they are apparently 30% lighter than the jerseys that were already 30% lighter when they were introduced 1-1/2 years ago and the cuts are supposedly better for the players.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: The recruits all gave glowing feedback - an overwhelming number were really high on the all whites combos.

Next Up: Actual football?