UNIFORMS



1937
Players such as rookie sensation Johnny Drake, Ted Rosequist, and Charles (Ookie) Miller looked great in this unique red & black uniform which was only used for the 1937 season. By 1938, the team would convert the color scheme to the more recognizable and familiar blue & yellow-gold.

Note the red chest number, and the red 'yoke' that ran continuously from the neckline - all the way down the length of the sleeves. This is a familiar look to hockey fans, less so to football fans. For a few other football examples, see the 1930's Giants, the 1960 Cowboys and the 1967 Steelers.




1940
The 1940 Rams, shown here in a beautiful blue jersey with yellow yoke, fared slightly better than their '37 counterpart - going 4-6-1. As mentioned earlier, in 1938, the franchise converted the uniform's colors from red & black to blue & yellow-gold. The jersey's 'yoke' no longer runs the length of the sleeves - rather stopping at the shoulders, and the pants are now white - featuring a slender, dark blue stripe down the leg.




1945
This uniform, as worn by the likes of Bob Waterfield, Clyde 'Big' Johnson, and Mike Scarry, features a yellow-gold collar, blue shoulder yoke and white pants - complete with blue & gold stripes. As for the patch on the left sleeve of the jersey? Look closely and you'll see an eagle with outstretched wings amidst a giant 'C' for "Cleveland". The bottom of the 'C' consists of red & white stripes in honor of 'Old Glory'. This patch, we believe, was in honor of America's successful war effort.




1948
The '48 uniform showcased here features some interesting changes from the 1945 uniform shown earlier. The blue shoulder yoke, which had graced Rams' jerseys in previous years, has been dropped. But most importantly, look at the helmet and you'll see the introduction of the infamous 'Rams' horns' logo - which has been a Rams' uniform staple right to the present day! Amazingly, the original design was done by Rams' halfback Fred Gehrke - who studied art in college at Utah. It's for this helmet that we chose to show this 1948 uniform - the painting of a team logo on the helmet began something that has added immeasurably to the game of football and fans enjoyment of the game - thanks Fred!




1951
The 1951 uniform, as worn by such champions as Van Brocklin, Elroy (Crazylegs) Hirsch and Paul Barry features two major differences from its 1948 counterpart: the helmet is now plastic in construction, rather than leather - and the jersey now showcases sleeve stripes.




1957
The '57 home uniform shown here features slender, yellow-gold sleeve numbers - high up on the arm. Look carefully and you'll notice that the chest numbers have a thin, white trim surrounding the gold - something the sleeve numbers lack - interesting and very unusual for this period of time.






1965 & 1972
Look at the clean, elegant blue & white uniform design which replaced the Rams' traditional blue & gold color scheme for a while in the 60's and 70's. To some hockey enthusiasts, this uniform may be reminiscent of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs.

One can't help but see the 1965 white jersey and think of "The Fearsome Foursome" - the Rams' defensive line. Dick Butkus called them "The most dominate line in football history', and while the members changed a bit, for the most part they were Lamar Lundy ('57-'69), Rosey Grier ('63-'66), Merlin Olsen ('72-'76) & Deacon Jones ('61-'71). How good were they? The Foursome averaged 44 quarterback sacks per season over a 5 year period. They made the Rams the hardest team to score on in the NFL, highlighted by the fact that they allowed only 196 points in 14 games in 1967. Three times between 1964-1968, the Fearless Foursome allowed the fewest rushing yards in the NFL.

This '65 road white uniform, as worn in the late 60's by the 'Fearsome Foursome', featured long sleeves and a vertical blue ram horn/stripe on the upper part of the sleeve.

The '72 home blue version opted instead for short sleeves, a double stripe near the sleeve cuff, and no ram horn on the sleeve.




1979
This wonderful road uniform, as worn by such Rams' notables as Nolan Cromwell, Jack Reynolds and the legendary Jack Youngblood (who played the NFC Championship game & Super Bowl with a broken fibula!), features some great changes from past uniforms and is perhaps one of the most handsome uniforms ever worn in the NFL. This blue collared jersey has now taken on a white, blue & gold color schematic - also showcased on the pants. Look closely at the jersey's sleeves and you'll see rams' horns starting on the shoulder/armpit area and circling until they reach the lower part of the sleeves - a brilliant design! The pants feature a clean blue and white striping pattern, sandwiched by gold - and a zippered front - straying from the conventional laced look.




1988
This blue HOME jersey, as worn by QB Jim Everett, sure-handed Henry Ellard and kicker Mike Lansford, continues the tradition of having a brilliant ram's horn wrapped around the sleeves. Notice the yellow-gold shirt collar, and the yellow-gold sleeve numbers tucked into the ram's horn. On the left shoulder is a patch supporting America's war against drugsÖit reads 'Drug use is life abuse' and is sandwiched between the word 'Rams' and the American flag.




1994 & 1995
In 1994, the NFL helped celebrate its 75th anniversary with the introduction of 'throwback' jerseys - which every team wore at least once over the course of the season, sometimes numerous times.

The Rams' 1994 throwback jersey was a tribute to the 1951 uniform worn by such greats as Norm Van Brocklin and Elroy (Crazylegs) Hirsch. Note the simple and elegant blue & yellow-gold color schematic, and triple blue striping on the sleeve. If you look closely, you'll see the diamond-shaped NFL patch commemorating the 75th anniversary on the upper left chest.

One other note about the uniform: If you look closely at almost all NFL uniforms worn from 1991 on, you'll note a small NFL shield patch on the jersey's neckline. Most NFL uniforms added the NFL logo patch to the neck, and to the upper left thigh of the pants, beginning in 1991. The only major exception to this practice was in 1994 when the teams wore their throwback uniforms - in these instances, most teams did not wear the NFL shield patch. The Rams however, did, and thus you can see the small NFL shield patch on the neck and upper left thigh of the pants.




1995
The 1995 season marked the Rams' inaugural season in their new home. To help commemorate this occasion, the St. Louis franchise wore a patch on their left shoulder with the phrase 'Inaugural Season' at the top, with the St. Louis Archway and the words 'St. Louis Rams' directly underneath. Finally, at the bottom of the patch is a '95', honoring their first year in St. Louis.




1999
This road jersey, as worn by Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, and Torry Holt hasn't changed much since the '79 version showcased earlier! The uniform is still comprised of the white, blue & yellow-gold color scheme - and still features the infamous ram's horns on the sleeves!

One other note about the uniform: If you look closely at almost all NFL uniforms worn from 1991 on, you'll note a small NFL shield patch on the jersey's neckline. Most NFL uniforms added the NFL logo patch to the neck, and to the upper left thigh of the pants, beginning in 1991. The only major exception to this practice was in 1994 when the teams wore their throwback uniforms.




2000
A few new nuances worth noting on the 2000 uniform: a true "gold" replaces the yellow-gold used for so many years; a complete ram's head now can be seen on each sleeve; gold trim now surrounds both the chest & sleeve numbers. Furthermore, look closely at the sides of the jersey and you'll see a gold stripe running down the course of the body. Finally, on the neckline of the shirt, a secondary-logo mark (the word 'Rams') has been added - something many teams have incorporated into their uniform designs beginning in the late 90's.


Courtesy of Maple Leaf Productions Ltd.

A wide variety of other historic NFL images may be viewed at mapleleafproductions.com