New Nike NFL Uniforms: 49ers Away Jerseys Are Snazzy, Cleats Are 'Eh' And Alex Smith Is A Dark Lord

We've already taken a look at the new uniforms for the San Francisco 49ers, as done by Nike as per an NFL-wide re-design of its apparel. There's good (most of it) and then there's bad (the gloves), but there's still a couple things that need to be looked at. For one, we'll take a look at the away jerseys, which are just lovely, probably because they're not yet stained with grass and dirt and things of that nature. The red is a bit "fuller" than the previous, and it works very well with the white.

As Tweeted by the 49ers official account, via Instagram:

That being said, there's another aspect of the new uniforms that isn't quite as good, in this writer's opinion. Also introduced on Tuesday were the new cleats, which are gold and ... maroon? The red on the cleats is far, far from desirable, but it's worth noting that they look a bit better with the full uniform. Up to full scrutiny though, the red just doesn't hold up, and it's far too much of a reminder of the 2000s 49ers uniforms in which they abandoned the classic red.

It's also pretty funny that players have been fined exorbitant amounts of money in the past for having shoes with too much flair to 'em. But Nike is allowed. Again, the link for the new cleats is here.

Lastly, if you wanted to see how Nice Guy Alex Smith looks in "I'm gonna eat your heart" mode, look no further than the heavily modified picture Tweeted by the 49ers here. That's an actual thing they're using to promote. The first thing that's noticeable is that the darker socks look really, really, really cool.

The second thing that's noticeable is that Alex Smith's thighs rival those of Chun Li from Street Fighter. It's not just the pads, either -- that's some glorious airbrushing going on there. They also took liberties with the muscles on his arms, and of course, enlarged his hands so they actually look normal holding a football. He really does have tiny hands.

This writer's guess is that Smith took a picture without a football and a helmet, and was smiling politely while saying "Absolutely" over and over and, 10 minutes after they got the picture, this happened. The things you can do with internets!

New Nike NFL Uniforms: Oakland Raiders Jersey Features Few Changes

The folks at Nike officially unveiled the new jerseys that teams will begin wearing in 2012, and for most teams, the changes are not too drastic. The most significant changes are the Seahawks new look, as they are filling in as an experimental group for Nike. I suppose we can consider Seattle the Oregon of the NFL at this point. The reaction has been mixed, to say the least, but it will be interesting to see how fans view it once they are being used in game-action.

For Oakland Raiders fans, the historic look of the Silver and Black featured few changes. The Raiders have a timeless look that did not really require much in the way of changes. Aside from the swoosh on the left arm, the only significant change is what appear to be bigger numbers on the uniform. That could also just be the angle of the picture. Whatever the case, the Silver and Black remains as it should be. Dark. Intimidating. Badass. What else needs to be said?

Darren Rovell on WhoSay

Nike Uniform Unveiling: 49ers See Minimal Changes To Jerseys [PHOTOS]

Nike was set to unveil the new uniforms for all 32 NFL teams at 11:00 a.m. eastern on Tuesday, but apparently misled everyone - mostly the NFL Network - who had tweeted about showing the event live. Then again, things got started shortly after (not exactly on schedule, but you know). At any rate, the San Francisco 49ers weren't expected to have major changes across the board.

Shortly after it all began, we got a much better close-up image of the gloves that the 49ers players would be wearing. As you can tell, they're not well-received by this writer in particular, but we'll move on from that. There were some initial pictures that showed a little bit of the pants details, of which you can find here.

Then, the 49ers posted a picture of the jerseys on Instgram, and though the sleeves look ridiculously short, it's an indication that not a ton is changing:

And then, finally, a closer look at the model for the 49ers came out via Darren Rovell, so that's below as well.

Darren Rovell on WhoSay

Huge changes across the board were not expected, as the NFL is mostly happy with its brand. Drastic changes across the board would feel, well, drastic, to put it bluntly. Nike is just taking over making the apparel, so the materials are different and changes were bound to happen. What do you think of the 49ers' changes?

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