Logos and Uniforms of The San Francisco 49ers - 2009 Uniform Change

2009 Uniform Change

On February 17, 2009, 49ers.com officially announced new uniforms to be presented to the public during 49ers Draft Day events on April 25, 2009. The showcased design would be adopted for the 2009 NFL season. The uniform change rumors were confirmed by the team's chief operating officer Andy Dolich at the 49ers' State of the Franchise. When asked when they were going to change their uniforms "back to normal," Dolich replied stating, "Stay tuned. Don’t be surprised if you see championship colors back." During the design process of the new 49ers uniforms, considerable input was received from 49ers players, coaches, team alumni and fan focus groups which occurred over a period of two years (2006–08), and was then conveyed to NFL Equipment manufacturer Reebok. The uniforms were revealed on April 25, 2009, during the first day of the draft. 49ers players Patrick Willis, Josh Morgan, Dashon Goldson, Joe Staley, and Moran Norris (each accompanied by 49ers alumni) displayed the new uniforms at the 49ers draft party.

The new uniforms are very similar to the classic design, albeit with several significant changes. The sleeve stripes are now set at an angle to accommodate the even shorter sleeves of modern jerseys, (though the stripes appear straight and parallel to the ground when worn by the players themselves). Because of less room along the side of the sleeves, the secondary "TV" numerals have been moved to the top of the shoulder pads (as in the 1996-2008 jerseys). Meanwhile a "49ers" wordmark ligature has been included below the collar on the front of the jersey, just below the NFL Equipment shield. The shade of red in the new jerseys is arguably slightly darker than the bright scarlet of the classic 1980s jerseys, but significantly lighter than the cardinal/crimson red used in the 1996-2008 designs. The new helmets retained the shinier metallic gold shell color and 1996-2008 stretched oval "SF" logo design (though the oval was in the new brighter shade of red). However, the helmet stripes were reverted to the classic red-white-red order, and the face mask returned to the more traditional color of neutral gray. When the new uniform was debuted the pants remained made of the same lustrous gold material of the 1998-2008 uniform, but by training camp and the preseason the pants were toned down to a duller sheen of flat gold, similar to the 1980s pants but more closely matching the shade of gold used in the new helmets rather than the old khaki/tan. The pants striping is also in the classic red-white-red order, though this time in a more standard, medium width and not the thick striping width of the 1976-1995 pants. Players had complained that the old thick pant stripes on the throwbacks were too restrictive to movement. The new pants also feature zippers along the front, an innovation over the traditional laces used. The team's socks retain a solid red look (and not the throwback uniform style that had three white stripes), again in the new brighter red team color.

Since the 2009 season, the team has chosen not to have any "throwback" games as in recent years (2002–08), as the new uniform is consistent with the "classic" 49ers look of the 1980s. However, there may be retro games in the near future that instead incorporate the red and silver/white designs from the 1950s and 60s.