PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio wrote Nike’s new NFL jerseys “will look the same" as the current Reebok jerseys "barring any changes that would be made in the ordinary course of changing jerseys.” A Nike exec said in October '10 that the company “plans on ‘changing the NFL jersey dramatically.’” However, the league is “now saying otherwise.” NFL VP/Communications Brian McCarthy said, “Logos are controlled by teams and the NFL. That will not change. Teams have to apply to [the] league to make changes to logos and colors.” The league said that the new jerseys will be unveiled “in late April, in connection with the 2012 draft.” McCarthy added that the league’s policy on players changing jersey numbers “won’t change.” However, NFL Senior VP/PR Greg Aiello said that the “requirement that a player who changes his number refund Reebok for the unsold inventory of jerseys bearing the prior number will go away in conjunction with the changeover” (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 1/24).
DANCING MACHINE: On Long Island, Zach Schonbrun writes Giants WR Victor Cruz “has certainly emerged as a fan favorite.” Fans filled Modell’s Sporting Goods store in Times Square yesterday to see Cruz “partake in a salsa-dancing lesson, sign some autographs and promote a new T-shirt officially on sale with ‘Cruuuuuuuuuz!’ on the front and salsa steps on the back -- an homage to his trademark touchdown celebration.” Schonbrun notes his “celebrity seems at its peak.” Cruz “recently turned down an opportunity to appear on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ in the offseason and a five-minute lesson at Modell's drew fans by the hundreds screaming his name” (NEWSDAY, 1/25).
SITTING, WAITING, WISHING: T’Wolves G Ricky Rubio said that he is “still without any local product endorsement deals.” He also said that he “hasn't heard from Nike about renewing his basketball shoe contract.” Rubio: “I'm going to wait; if not, I'll do another deal (elsewhere)” (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 1/25).
IN FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT: U.K. heptathlete Jessica Ennis “is the star of British Airways's new in-flight ‘wellbeing’ movie, alongside gymnast Louis Smith and Paralympian Shelly Woods.” The video features Ennis “clearing hurdles, Smith completing a routine on a pommell horse and Woods hurtling down an athletics track in her wheelchair” (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 1/25).
