The 49ers on Thursday unveiled their first alternative uniform in team history. The new look brings the team’s traditional accent color of black to the forefront as the primary color of the team’s jerseys and pants. It includes the team’s traditionally featured colors of red and gold as accent colors. The 49ers can wear the new alternate uniform in as many as two games. The unveiling took place in front of approximately 10,000 fans at the team's Draft Party (49ers). In S.F., Eric Branch noted the alternate uniform "was the result of a coordinated effort between the 49ers, their players, Nike and the NFL." LB NaVorro Bowman was "among the players involved in the design" (SFGATE.com, 4/29). SI.com's Tim Newcomb noted the uniform features "red numbers and lettering, presenting a bold contrast" on the black jersey. The black tops and pants "have the red accent throughout, with stripes on the sleeve and down the pant and a small 49ers wordmark above the numerals on the front." The bright red also "highlights the red and white socks, part of the team's traditional look." The red numbers on a black jersey is a look that QBs "have worn for the 49ers in practice" (SI.com, 4/30).
NO SIR, I DON'T LIKE IT: ESPN.com's Paul Lukas writes of the 49ers' new uniform, "Trotting out an all-black uniform in 2015 is the visual equivalent of saying, 'Hi, I have exactly zero original ideas, and even my unoriginal ideas are really outdated.'" The all-black uniforms are "a poor fit with the team's helmet." The new uniform also "fails the first test of any design -- functionality." The red numbers on the black jersey "are hard to read," so gold numbers "would have been better." The new uniform also "misses the boat on the NFL's big Super Bowl 50 promotional push," with no gold on the jerseys. Lukas writes he is "a lifelong 49ers fan" and is "finding his loyalties severely tested by this new uniform" (ESPN.com, 5/1).
CRAMPING OUR STYLE? CBSSPORTS.com's John Breech wrote the Raiders "probably aren't going to be thrilled to see their Bay Area neighbors wearing black." While the uniforms were officially unveiled at Thursday night's draft party, the 49ers "did send out a few pictures of the new uniform to the team's followers on Snapchat" (CBSSPORTS.com, 4/30). In San Jose, Jimmy Durkin wrote it is "probably a safe bet" that the new uniforms "won't be used during afternoon games in the Levi's Stadium sun" (MERCURYNEWS.com, 4/30). CSNBayArea.com’s Ray Ratto noted it is usually 75-80 degrees in Levi's Stadium for home games, so “they’re only going to be able to wear them at night" (“Yahoo Sports Talk Live,” CSN Bay Area, 4/30).
