The Green Bay Packers are wearing an alternate jersey against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 11. The uniforms are all green, with gold numbers and stripes, matching green pants with gold stripes, and green socks. The team refers to them as the 50s Classic Uniforms.
The Packers’ regular uniform combination has been the same since the late 1950s, with only some minor adjustments made over the years. This is the jersey worn when Vince Lombardi’s teams dominated the NFL in the 1960s. The only changes are the addition of player numbers on the shoulders and a reduction in the number of stripes on the arm.
What Era Are the Packers Jerseys From?
The Packers first wore these jerseys in 1950, in their first season under coach Gene Ronzani. Curly Lambeau, who founded the team, was the coach for the franchise’s first 29 seasons from 1921 to 1949.
The jerseys were worn for four seasons until 1953 before switching to blue and gold jerseys in 1954. Green Bay struggled to wear the “50s Classic Uniforms,” winning only 14 of 48 games.
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Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy said, “The 1950s were one of the most interesting times in our organization’s rich history, creating the bridge between two of the greatest eras in pro football.”
By 1959, Vince Lombardi was the Packers head coach, and the team was playing in New City Stadium, later to be renamed Lambeau Field. The franchise went on to win five NFL championships in the 1960s.
How Many Times Can Green Bay Wear Throwbacks?
Teams are allowed to wear a third jersey three times a season, twice at home, over five years. This is the third season in the five-year cycle for this Packers throwback uniform. Green Bay has worn it once each of the last two seasons and has lost both games.
The franchise has worn several different versions of past jerseys over the last thirty years. Most of the jerseys have been tributes to the 1920s and 1930s teams. The helmets are usually a single color with no logos on the sides.
After the 2012 season, the NFL banned alternate helmets from being used for player safety. This prevented teams from matching a helmet with a jersey for alternate jerseys.
The rule changed to allow for a different helmet in 2022, and we’ve seen throwback jerseys starting to return more and more. This season, the Philadelphia Eagles debuted throwback jerseys from the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the Tennessee Titans paid tribute to the Houston Oilers’ jerseys.
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