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Prototypes and Logos That Never Made It
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From: TheSportsApple
To a sports fan, his team's logo is as distinctive as his first time in the sack. You remember it very vividly and at some point, talk about it excessively. If it is good, you even may brag about it to your friends.
However, it could have gone dreadfully bad. You may not have lived up to expectations and don't want to remember anything about it. And that's just what she said!
A team's logo is identifiable to sports enthusiasts as well as ordinary people that do not follow sports. Everyone recognizes the interlocking "NY" insignia of the New York York Yankees. The navy blue star of the Cowboys might be the simplest logo in sports but it also may be the most distinguishable to the casual fan. Would a non-fan be able to identify the falling space debris/flaming meatball of the Tennessee Titans?
Trying to create the ultimate logo for mass appeal is every team’s goal. Team owners want their logo and colors to be best sellers to add revenue to their team’s bottom line. They go to enormous lengths spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in hiring design firms to do research and create the next great logo. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
The following is a partial listing of prototypes that have surfaced but never made it to officially represent the team.
NBA
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks changed their logo before the 2007-08 NBA season. They ditched the red and yellow in favor of red and blue. How original. But before Hawks ownership decided on the new logo, a firm had designed the this and the following:
Phoenix Design Works submitted these logos to the 76ers. PDW has also created the original Vancouver Grizzlies logo, the Sonics uniforms when they had red in them, and the Florida Marlins logo among others. These Sixer logos were never officially adopted and can be seen here, here, and here.
NHL
Quebec Nordiques
Before moving to Colorado, the Nordiques were all set to wear these for the 1996-97 season. Kind of looks like the Minnesota Timberwolves logo
NFL
These helmet designs never made it off the drawing board in Atlanta. The first was considered for the original helmet in the 1960s. The second helmet was a turn of the century idea that never got off the ground:
Cleveland Browns
This helmet is nothing radical but Cleveland considered using it after the NFL urged them to come up with a stronger graphic. There is some debate as to whether or not the team used it for a preseason game in 1965.
Jacksonville Jaguars
This was the original helmet of the Jaguars after they were awarded a franchise. However, the people from Jaguar automobile company wouldn't allow the team to use it because it too closely resembled their car logo. This is a view of the innovative uniform design.
Memphis was a finalist to get an expansion team when Jacksonville and Carolina were awarded them in 1993. They had proposed Hound Dogs as the nickname along with this helmet.
San Francisco 49ers
Team President Carmen Policy introduced these helmets in 1991. There was a backlash from the 49ers fan base and after only one day, the team scrapped the idea.
St. Louis Stallions
St. Louis was also a finalist in the running for an expansion team in the early 90s. This was the team’s proposed helmet and uniform design.
A new logo was considered for use when the Bucs changed from peach and white to pewter and red in the late 90s.The idea eventually got discarded.
Thanks to the following for help with this article:
The Society for Sports Uniform Research
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