The 2024 NFL Week 3 Roundup | Wardrobe Malfunction
Roughly 70 miles due west of New York City lies Easton, Pa. Located strategically at the confluence of the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers, Easton picturesquely overflows with Flowering Dogwood, Red Maple and Norway Spruce trees that overhang the charm and intimacy you’d expect of a city that predates the country it’s in by precisely three decades. Easton has adapted to the march of time chiefly because of its positioning as a waterborne, railway and interstate nexus allowing manufacturers unfettered and speedy access to markets both across the country and the world. You’ll know Easton well because this is where MLB uniforms are artfully and laboriously hand crafted for all 30 teams in the League. Along a freshly-paved two lane industrial corridor northwest of town lies a crisp white low-slung Fanatics 360,000 square-foot production facility that employs 600 workers who toil behind rows of industrial sewing machines that thrum with intentional precision. Horizontal bolts of colorful fabrics, industrial spindles of thread and large, rotating wheels of buttons complement a head-turning factory floor that throbs with nostalgia. This Fanatics facility was embroiled in red hot controversy earlier this spring when MLB’s so-called new high-tech Nike-designed uniforms arrived with immediate derision and widespread backlash both among players and the general public alike. You know it’s never good when the term ‘Wardrobe Malfunction’ liberally drapes headlines all across the sports media landscape — with awkward visual proof to back up the searing indictment. MLB’s new Nike uniforms have created a 2024 firestorm; a raging brush fire that won’t be contained until Spring 2025 at the earliest. The Fanatics artisans, meanwhile, dutifully standby as a PR embarrassment not of their making enshrouds their finely honed reputation. Here, all fingers point to Nike.
It all started innocently enough back in 2018 when Nike and Fanatics joined forces to optimize the design of baseball’s instantly recognizable and universally-adored uniforms while at the same time addressing longtime player gripes of breathability and heat entrapment rampant with a 162-game season splayed over the toastiest part of the year. Out of the joint strategy sessions came the finding that the then-standard double-knit polyester fabrication had hewn more to tradition than the need. And so in 2020 when Nike won uniform design rights (with Fanatics relegated to contract manufacturer) in a 10-year $1B deal, attention quickly turned to that double-knit polyester situation. The sports behemoth would go on to mount a three-year ideation study complete with player focus groups, work-in-progress trials and computer-simulated endurance testing. And at long last, in 2023, Nike was proud to declare its entry into the canon of America’s pastime.
At the 2023 All-Star game in Seattle, Nike previewed NL and AL uniforms crafted of the company’s technological prowess. Despite the hideous color blocking and overall design aesthetic, Nike famously and splashily opted to employ its exclusive so-called Vapor Premier fabric that wicked moisture more completely than competitor Under Armor, stretched forgivingly, possessed “memory” and dried faster than any uniform the League had ever seen. Further, the fabric boasted of green credentials being comprised of 90% recycled polyester yarn. The bodies of 300 players were digitally scanned to create the optimal fit, more athletic and form-fitting than ever. The uniforms generally were well-received but, fatally, were only worn for a few hours in a night game in the Pacific northwest; conditions that hardly came close to pressure-testing what was to come just eight months later.
This past February, the fruits of MLB/Nike collaboration were officially rolled out League-wide during Spring training. The new jerseys, officially termed Nike Vapor Premiers, arrived in locker rooms as “the most advanced uniforms in the history of the MLB.” The uproar began almost immediately, certainly from a visual perspective. Player names and numbers were substantially downgraded because the thick layers of tackle twill that comprised the familiar wordmark and numbering were deemed as adding unnecessary bulk. And so out went the tackle twill, and in came cheap and lightweight perforated screen printing. Patches were no longer embroidered and team-specific decorative flourishes received the boot. Next up on deck, the sheer nature of the pants, to put it charitably. Some would say see through. This was discovered for the world to see once player photographs from picture day began to surface and go viral. The Vapor Premier fabric had a tendency to reveal tucked-in shirt tails making for what appeared to be athletes in diapers. It didn’t help that the pants were unusually ill-fitting; a result of Nike’s decision to tailor the pants to just four body-types. Quizzical when the company made such a pronouncement of scanning 300 players just for the 2023 All-Star game. More concerning, the much touted new high-tech fabric seemed to collect — and hang onto — so much sweat that the color of the uniform changed. Stained, uncomfortable and clammy, complained some. Road grays were also routinely criticized as having come from two different sets of primer paint cans. Durability was revealed to be yet another serious drawback when base stealers slid along the ground only to jump up with foot-and-a-half-long busted seams painfully exposing side calf and knees to in-stadium road rash. Perhaps the most stinging insult of all: player-lobbed barbed zingers that the Vapor Premiers resembled little more than knock-off jerseys regularly stocked at the local TJ Maxx. Ouch. By the time of this year’s All-Star game, the Nike Vapor Premier uniforms had become a laughing stock among players and a bona fide bone of contention with the Players Union, the MLBPA.
For a time Nike claimed the dust-up was much ado about nothing. It said that it would offer tailoring in the few instances were needed but largely defended its supposed revolutionary technology, despite the ridicule alongside, around and beneath the company’s hollow proclamations. And the photographic and video receipts. Nike’s ill-informed foot dragging lasted all of 20 days. Withering vociferous complaints from players and its vocal union, MLB demanded change and Nike was left with little recourse. The tiny two and a half inch lettering on the back of the jerseys would be enlarged to their original size. Design flourishes would be allowed to return. The unsightly stains and moisture retention hallmarks of the Vapor Premier fabric would be addressed. And the pants. Nike insisted from the get-go that they didn’t fuss with the pants. Well they’ve admitted to some tinkering and have promised to upgrade the zippers and double the seam stich count which should alleviate pants unraveling in real time. In short, no more humiliating “blowouts.” Nike will even correct the transparent nature of its much-touted fabrication. And it will begin making and dying the fabric in the same facility (to maintain consistency) whereas before the jersey and pant material was sourced from two different subcontractors. But alas, these updates will take time. Nike promises a Vapor Premier 2.0 debut for Spring training 2025.
Which brings us back to the artisans in Easton as the Fanatics plant. You ask them and they saw this coming the moment Nike presented its technical specifications to them last winter. Their suspicions were confirmed when putting hands to the material and stitching together Nike’s new vision in 30 varietals. There are tactical, visual and gut instincts that come with honing a trade for years upon years. The workers knew instinctively that the tradition and respect they’d burnished and revered so were waved away too dismissively and easily in favor of some fashion/sports hybrid science experiment. The results speak for themselves as Nike slinks back from its grand ambitions to Nike-ize 178 years of heritage. But the workers remain ever-hopeful that Nike nails it in 2025 because the history of baseball demands it. And when they do, fans around the world with look to the men and women of Easton, Pa and cheer them on for having a literal hand in righting an egregious wrong.
Turning now to the NFL, Week 3 carried on just where Week 2 left off. Upsets galore, surprises aplenty and only 4 unbeaten teams (with 2 winless). I suppose we’ll start IN Pittsburgh where Jim Harbaugh brought is lossless Chargers in Steel City where backup QB Justin Fields has been working magic. Discarded by the Bears after two lackluster seasons, Justin is acquitting himself just fine in black and gold. His team’s 20–10 win over the remodeled Chargers reminds an injured Russell Wilson to keep his LinkedIn profile active. Justin is playing with the verve and athleticism Chicago fans salivated for alongside a battle-hardened Defense that just won’t quit. The upstart LA team, so emboldened by a hot two week roll, hobbled away with an injured QB in Justin Herbert boot-bound. Too soon, Justin. In Vegas, the early-season hilarity that was the Carolina Panthers is no more. Pity 2024 #1 Draft Pick rookie QB Bryce Young who practically had his uniform revoked after a catastrophic two-week debut. Veteran QB Andy Dalton slid in for Carolina and did so with poise, workmanship and profits (26/37 319 yds 3 TDs 0 INTs). The team’s convincing 32–22 victory on the road in Sin City only amplified what at-home couch analysts have been barking since Season began: the Panthers don’t have an offense problem, they have a QB problem. Here, problem-solution.
In Atlanta, the Chiefs eeked out yet another down-to-the-wire W. For a time, the Falcons put up as much as they got and made KC earn the road win. A quote unquote missed passed interference is said to have thrown the game to KC but you know what they say; if you’ve blaming officiating for a hypothetical, you’ve lost the argument. ATL lost the argument and the game to boot but Kirk Cousins isn’t where he is today by virtue of racking up Ls. Speaking of Ls, what going on in Dallas. The already-stressed Ravens arrived at AT&T field only to greet a suddenly rattled secondary. Traditionally a Cowboys strong suit, the team’s Defense wilted amidst a Baltimore strong-but-not-great offensive onslaught. The citybirds have its issues (including a diluted Justin Tucker) but the 28–25 takeaway is much needed airlift for a flock who encountered an uncharacteristic air pocket the past two weeks. We’ll see if that momentum lasts. AS for America’s Team, smh.
In our Round Robin, Big Blue threw one up on the board (behind WR Malik Nabers) against the listless Cleve. The Packers are carrying on admirably with backup QB Malik Willis who helped to supplement the laugh track to the season’s running joke that is the Titans, 30–14. Jordan Love, so indelibly injured in Brazil, makes his likely return this week. The unstoppable Hawks squished the fish, 24–3, leaving MIA continuing to reel in the continuing wake of Tua’s latest concussion. Seattle, meanwhile, own the NFC West, an unbeaten record and an enviable start to the season. The Rams squeaked out a surprising upset of the 9ers, 27–24, in the final quarter of a game populated with handicapped teams on both sides of the ball. The Lions won, the Bills bashed the squealing Jags and at long last, WAS came out of the box powerfully with the Jayden Daniels fans will want to see more of despite going up against the Bengals who are suffering from flagrant identity theft this year, as is evident with their 0–3 record. Cinci, we hardly knew ya. Joe Burrow who?
