Nike Pro Combat NFL Uniforms: Real or Fake?

Nike will take over for Reebok as the provider of NFL uniforms starting with the 2012 season. The sports apparel giant has created some crazy looking Pro Combat uniforms for college teams. Is that what to expect in the NFL as well?

Sports business guru Darren Rovell tweeted, “Told Nike sales reps are having a secret meeting where they are being shown potential new NFL jersey designs for next year.”

There were some mock-up uniforms floating around the Internet last fall that were created by a fan, but were mistaken for Nike prototypes. How close will they come to the actual uniforms and will the Nike creations be even more outrageous than some of their college creations?

Let's take a look at some of the ideas put forth by a fan in the past. All images courtesy of SportsGrid.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The colors are nice and everything flows together pretty nicely. It seems like they overdid it with the Buccaneers logos though. There are at least six of them on the part of the uniform shown, including the helmet and that's too much.

Miami Dolphins

This design is pretty cool thanks to all of the color on the helmet and the dual-colored undershirt. The knee pads look a little funky, but it's unclear whether that's because of the lightning or just a bad design. Orange shoes would made it look even better.

Philadelphia Eagles

For some reason this one still appears to have the Reebok/NFL logo on the front, but otherwise not a ton seems to have changed from the normal Eagles uniform. The numbers seem a little bit too small as compared to some of the other ones, though.

Cleveland Browns

Once again the Reebok logos still appear on this jersey and there is no Nike logo to be found other than on the generic gloves. The stripes on the socks and undershirt are cool and keeping the traditional helmet was the right call.

Denver Broncos

Although it needs to be sized down to fit correctly, the way the logo pops off the helmet is great. The use of the Denver team colors is terrific, with no one color overpowering the others. It would represent a nice change of pace for the Broncos.

Atlanta Falcons

There isn't enough contrast in the Falcons uniform. While their dominant color is black, they should have incorporated more red into this mock-up. Either have the undershirt and socks be red, or if your looking for a more radical approach, make the pants red.

New York Giants

The Giants uniforms might be the worst of the bunch. The number is way to small, the tie dyed undershirt is weird and the NY logo on the helmet looks awkward. Let's just say Eli Manning won't be lining up under center with this jersey anytime soon.

Carolina Panthers

Unlike the Giants undershirt, which had a similar design, the Panthers' looks pretty good. But again, the number is too small and the dark helmet doesn't allow the logo to show as well as it should. The gloves look pretty cool, though.

Oakland Raiders

The logo doesn't sit correctly on the helmet on this otherwise bland jersey. Uniforms need to have some type of contrast to make the different colors pop. This one and the prior Atlanta one just don't have that. Must have more variation.

St. Louis Rams

This is one of the better efforts in the group. The colors flow nicely together and the socks are cool. The stripes on the helmet probably should have been gold, but otherwise Sam Bradford would have no problem suiting up in that jersey.

Baltimore Ravens

Another solid effort, the shoulder pads being a separate color was a good idea and could have been used on a bunch of other uniforms. The striped socks work again and should probably be a staple for all of the teams, as well. This is also a great example of the logo popping off the helmet, albeit backwards.

Seattle Seahawks

Not sure if the undershirt is suppose to be some type of hawk design or what, but all it accomplishes is looking like a bad tattoo. Otherwise there weren't major changes from the current jersey, which isn't always a bad thing.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Wow. No further comment.

Houston Texans

The current all-red uniforms the Texans have are pretty cool, but so is this attempt. The undershirt has a cool design and the uniform keeps it pretty simple. Something more bold could have been done with the helmet, though.

Tennessee Titans

Whereas several uniforms had the problem of a number being too small, the Titans number appears to be too large. Otherwise, this was a pretty solid effort. The contrast on the helmet is nice, but the logo could have been integrated better.

Minnesota Vikings

No idea what is going on with the logo on the helmet, but otherwise this jersey is good. While the colors might seem a bit over the top, there's not much else you can do based on the team colors. Adrian Peterson might look like a bowl of fruity pebbles, but he'll still run you over.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Terrible. Next...

Cincinnati Bengals

Not sure what to think of these. They are certainly different, which is good. However, there is a fine line between different and insane. These uniforms straddle the line, but overall they are pretty cool. The helmet could use a more defined logo, though.

Kansas City Chiefs

The use of two dominant colors was the right move for the Chiefs jersey, it just wasn't executed properly. The logo looks good on the helmet and just needs to be placed properly. This uniform has potential, but it's not quite there.

Indianapolis Colts

This jersey is almost the same as the Colts already have, but there aren't too many options to utilize. Maybe they could have done something with the undershirt or blue socks with white stripes, but you can't really change the overall look of the jersey.

Dallas Cowboys

Now these are pretty awesome. The first thing that stood out was how large "Cowboys" was on the front of the jersey. That would be a typical Jerry Jones move, making the name of his team larger than everybody else. Not sure about the solid bold line down the middle of the helmet, but otherwise good.

New York Jets

The number on the front of the jersey should be white and the logo needs to be brightened up a bit as well. It's clear the creator was trying to keep the entire uniform as dark as possible while still making everything visible, but there needs to be more contrast.

Detroit Lions

Logo is backwards again, but an otherwise good effort. The colors all mesh together well and the solid sock color over a striped look was probably the right call here. Barry Sanders could come out of retirement and run for 1,500 yards in these.

Washington Redskins

Unsure of what was trying to be accomplished with the look of this jersey, but whatever it was didn't work. The helmet looks good, but the Redskins have some good colors to work with, so there has to be better options with the jersey.

New England Patriots

These are definitely in the top three of the set. Judging by all the uniforms with different styles on the shoulder pads that look good, that's probably the way to go with all of them. The red, white and blue are all incorporated well. This uniform would get a thumbs up from Gisele.

New Orleans Saints

Another good attempt. It would probably look better if the helmet's base color was dark so that there would be some contrast with the logo, but the rest is well done. Maybe the Saints could have scored on the final drive against Green Bay with these bad boys on.