Nike Goes Big, Seattle Fans Say 'Go Home'

Nike, one of the most successful Pacific Northwest businesses has finally hit the big stage, but not without upsetting many local football fans.

By now, even the casual NFL fan knows about the Nike Elite 51 Uniform. After grabbing national attention, mostly by using University of Oregon football to showcase their product, Nike signed a contract with the National Football League to design and produce all 32 team uniforms, taking over for Reebok.

Each franchise had the option of letting Nike take their current uniform design and go anywhere from zero to full creative control. New England, for example, gave Nike no creative control, opting to stick entirely with last year's design. Oakland, among others, decided on only adding the shoes and gloves from the Elite 51 program to the ensemble. And I've got to say, those team logo gloves are pretty cool.

The only other really noticeable changes are the designs around the shoulder pads and the creative leg stripes, and even these were not for all teams (Jacksonville & Arizona have no stripes). But, Seattle, San Diego, and Cincinnati are among the lucky ones. This picture might explain why many Seahawk fans are up in arms over the new uniform.

Too bad so many Seattle fans aren't happy with the results. I believe Nike made more changes to the hawks' uniforms, because of the regional connection, a tribute if you will. Nike even said, "The new uniform colors are rooted in Seattle's own environmental hues -- the deep blue of the ocean water that tucks into the harbor near downtown and the Seahawks' stadium... The new color addition called Action Green represents the green of the ubiquitous trees, ferns, and moss literally covering the Pacific Northwest landscape." Sounds pretty endearing.

Meanwhile, the Bay Area teams are the only West Coast teams whose uniforms will basically stay the same, and Arizona will be looking pretty sharp in those full red outfits.

To see more of Seattle's new uni's, go here. To see the NFL's whole array, go here.