Let’s all cheer for clean Bucs’ work uniforms

by Gary Shelton on April 8, 2020

in general

Are you happy the Bucs got new clothes?

Wednesday, 4 a.m.

Now that they have a new emperor, the Tampa Bay Bucs have gone out and gotten some new clothes.

So let's hear it for cloth.

The Bucs introduced their latest uniforms Tuesday. The good news is that these don't have footprints on the chest from their offensive linemen getting trampled or singe marks on the sleeves from their safeties getting burned. Whether the team can see Tom Brady's shirt from getting dirty has yet to be seen.





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Oh, it's always a win-win when a team gets new uniforms. It allows fans to forget about their old disappointments, and it allows owners to collect cash from those who are eager to be the first kids on their block to have the new duds. (And why don't Best Buy or Publix think about selling their employees' unis? I'm thinking that Ed the stock boy's jerseys would fly off the shelves.

I'll be honest.In all my years of covering sports, I've never looked at a uniform and gone "oooh." I have only a few rules about grown men wearing jerseys: 1. He isn't allowed to wear a larger size jersey than the player in question and 2) If you're old enough to be a player's father, you can only wear his jersey if you are, in fact, his father.

Remember when the fad was to wear the throwback jerseys of former players. Ever notice how only great players had their numbers worn? There were plenty of Barry Sanders and Dick Butkus uniforms, but not so many from Lars Tate and Sabby Piscatelli.

There used to be a marketing campaign for a tennis shoe named U.S. Keds. "They make your feet run faster, fast as they can fly. They make your feet jump higher, way up to the sky." So if you're telling me that these uniforms are like that, if they will turn Ron Jones into a 1,000 yard rusher and make Tom Brady stay young, then I'm all for them. Otherwise, who's going to remember?

Oh, one positive is that, evidently, the Bucs will scrap those eyesores that were the all-red uniforms that looked like the Power Rangers were conquered by the Killer Tomatoes. That's a good thing.

On the other hand, they're still red and pewter (former quarterback Jameis Winston hated throwing to red and pewter, evidently; he preferred the other team's colors) and the helmet flag is still way too large.

But if this uniform can make it to the playoffs, it'll look just fine.

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