Nike NFL Uniforms: Rejections by Packers and Others Highlight Overhyped Release

On Tuesday, the National Football League and Nike revealed new uniforms for the 2012 season, an event that had been hotly anticipated for months.

When the moment of truth finally came...well, let's just say a lot of people were underwhelmed. 

If you haven't yet gotten a glimpse of all the new uniforms, B/R's Mike Chiari was kind enough to assemble a slideshow of images. Just know that there are five teams that totally declined any changes to their uniforms.

According to USA Today, the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers and Oakland Raiders will all stick with the same uniforms they wore in 2011, which were made by Reebok. They wanted no part of the supposed upgrades that Nike had in mind for the NFL.

Surprised? 

You shouldn't be. Teams weren't going to wear whatever the heck Nike gave them. They were always going to wear whatever the heck they wanted. When it comes to uniforms, teams and the NFL have the final say, not the distributor.

For the record, Nike is not trying to cover anything up. They say on their website that the Packers "have chosen to stay with their traditional design aesthetic as well as their former uniform fabrication for the coming season." It says the same thing for the Falcons, Eagles, Panthers and Raiders.

These teams weren't the only ones to reject changes. Pro Football Talk has reported that the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans all rejected the “Flywire” design on the neck of their jerseys.

So of the 32 teams in the league, nine in some way resisted Nike's attempt to revolutionize NFL uniforms.

If you're thinking this puts a damper on the hugely-hyped release of the new uniforms, you're not alone. I'm thinking the exact same thing. It was already apparent that the changes made didn't live up to the hype. Now it's apparent that the launch was even more overhyped than we originally feared.

But hey, that's the NFL for you. The only thing the league does better than build hype is sell. I think Dan Graziano of ESPN.com said it best:

"

That's it? Those are the new uniforms everyone's so excited about? Swear to god, the NFL could sell ice cubes in Antarctica.

— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) April 3, 2012"

Yup. Or maybe a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves. 

Let's just hope the NFL doesn't have any surprises planned for the next couple of days. It would be a shame if the Masters and start of baseball season got overshadowed because the NFL had a new line of ballpoint pens to announce.