Everyone's been wondering what Nike's effect on NFL uniforms would be. And now that the preseason has started, we have our answer: Nike has brought back the old-school neck roll.
If you're not old enough to remember, the neck roll was a padded collar extension that some players -- most notably Steve Grogan, Eric Dickerson, and Willie Lanier -- used to wear around their necks. It eventually fell out of favor as players began opting to wear as little gear as possible.
But take a look at the Buffalo Bills from their Thursday night game against the Washington Redskins: The neck roll is back!
OK, not really. But it looks that way, because Nike has seen fit to give the Bills a two-tone collar. On the other side of the ball, the Redskins were wearing faux neck rolls too, only theirs were burgundy. The two teams were neck-and-neck, so to speak.
Not every NFL team has received the two-tone collar treatment. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles, for example, still have conventional collar coloring. But for about a dozen clubs out there, it'll be neck-roll-o-rama this season. Now let's see if Nike can come up with a way to simulate the hip pad.