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As a lifelong viewer of the NFL and diehard Buffalo Bills fan, I have experienced the ups and downs of watching my favorite team on the football field. I enjoy the history and tradition of the game, and it is in that vein that I write to you about making a slight change in the NFL’s uniform requirements.
When the Bills redesigned their uniforms before the 2002 season, it was a time of dynamic change for the franchise with the signing of Drew Bledsoe and the ushering-in of a new era. If you gather three Bills fans in one room, you’ll get seven different opinions on the new navy blue uniforms, but the overriding consensus among the fans and those in the media (including Gregg Easterbrook in his excellent “Tuesday Morning Quarterback” column on the NFL.com website) is that they divert too far from the traditions of the Buffalo Bills. This year has again introduced incredible change and excitement for the future of the Bills, and the throwback uniforms of the 1965 championship season have been received with an almost unanimous positive fanfare that wasn’t able to be gauged among the fans, players, and the team’s front office before they were debuted earlier this year. I’m disappointed in the strictness of the league’s uniform policies allowing only two games in which to wear an alternate jersey, as that allotment has now been used.
The policy is understandable, in that you do not want a team to suddenly change their uniforms. There needs to be a constant uniform for team identification and branding, and it is also unfair to fans who have bought the older style jerseys. I would request that the league allow a team to use throwback uniforms in special anniversary years, such as the Bills’ ‘Celebration of Champions’ for the 2005 season. Another proposal would be to increase the number of games a team can wear an alternate jersey.
I would add that the rules have been bent slightly in the past when the New York Jets were allowed to wear their classic-styled uniforms that evoked memories of great seasons of their past. Also, the San Francisco 49ers were allowed to wear their popular black-trimmed uniforms for the remainder of the season and in the Super Bowl in 1995. Now, Tom Donahoe, the President of the Bills, is requesting that the fans write to the league office to request some flexibility to be able to wear these classy throwback uniforms that proudly show off the red, white and blue. I hope you will be willing to oblige that request. |
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Petition inspired by the posters at Two Bills Drive (www.twobillsdrive.com) |
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