Football 101

Guide to Spotting Fake Chicago Bears Jerseys

xlledx — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:29:50 GMT

Hey guys, let me start off by saying there are some really good jersey buying guides out there, and Ive learned a lot from them. But, none of them are as comprehensive as this one.

First things first, you're gonna want to familiarize yourself with the official Reebok made jerseys. The NFL store has some very high resolution pictures that allow you to zoom in and really see the finer details. You'll also notice they have three lines of NFL jerseys.

Replicas for $80: Mesh Torso, non-mesh shoulders and sleeves. Numbers and names are not sewn on. Back and front are same length.

Premiere EQT for $110: Mesh Torso, non-mesh shoulders and sleeves. Numbers and names are sewn on. Back is longer than front.

Authentic for $230: Mesh Torso, shoulders, and sleeves. Numbers and names are sewn on. Back and front are same length. Better image can be found here.

You'll also notice, none of them look like this: The Bears dont play with a logo on their jersey.
Also, the sleeves are wrong, look:

Or here:

Its supposed to be 3 orange stripes with white borders:

Also, dont buy jerseys from sellers that use a picture like this:

The seller just snatched the picture from the NFL online store. If the picture is just stock:

Then theres a good chance youre gonna end up with something like this:

Listen, if you just remembered what you've learned so far, you'd have already saved yourself from 95% of the garbage out there. But, there's more.

These numbers are mesh, not sown on: That means its a Replica (or just a really crappy knockoff).

If you cant spot the mesh: then get your face really close to the screen.

Speaking of crappy pictures: What is this? Some guy taking a picture of his closet? How are we supposed to see anything. Contact him and ask him for better pictures before buying.

Watch for colors: Current Orange jerseys have white numbers with blue border.

And heres a summary
JERSEY STRIPES NUMBERS
Home 3 Orange, white borders White, with orange borders
Away 2 Navy, 1 white, no borders Navy, with orange borders
Alternate 3 Navy, white borders White, with navy borders

Ok, we've eliminated the most offensive defects, so now we're going to move onto less noticeable stuff. Technicalities really.

Here's a technicality: The back of this jersey is longer than the front (this is normal for EQT jerseys).

Also, the numbers should be smaller on the front than on the back, unlike here:

An Authentic Bears jersey is supposed to have mesh throughout, unlike this:
Notice the different shades of blue? The torso is mesh, and the shoulders are not. Its easy to spot cuz the mesh isnt as shiny.

Heres a close up:

Now, none of that is a big deal. This is also normal for EQTs. A $110 EQT has a mesh torso, and non-mesh shoulders and sleeves. The Authentics have mesh shoulders and mesh sleeves.

A (poor) example of a mesh sleeve: The stripes are not supposed to be meshed! But kudos for for the elastic sleeves and for not running the stripe through ol' GSH there (that's another common flaw).

Alright, time for a recap.

1: No team logo!
2. Watch the colors!
3. Dont buy from sellers with crappy or stock photos.
4. Number's border should border the entire number (not mentioned before, but figured it was important).

These apply to just Authentics:
5. The front and back of the shirt should be an even length.
6. The front numbers should be smaller than the back numbers.
7. Have mesh shoulders and sleeves.
8. Sleeve stripes should not be mesh.

Time for a quiz. Name atleast one defect from each of these:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Some Answers:

1. Has 2 Logos, no stripes or numbers on sleeves.
2. Has Logo
3. Numbers look stupid, sleeve stripes are wrong color.
4. Colors of orange stripes are inconsistent. Shirt is not navy. Oddly, the spacing between the sleeve stripes are appropriately asymmetrical.
5. Stock photo. Numbers look like a 3 year old drew them on...which would be funny if it wasnt also true.

Ok, hopefully you got a 5 out 5, cuz those were pretty bad. And God help you if you missed #5 (btw I found all these pics off ebay being advertised as "Authentic").

Alright, lets move onto some very techincal stuff that should only concern the real jersey snobs out there.

Elastic sleeves!

floppy sleeves

not floppy

floppy again

The difference is elastic sleeves or non-elastic sleeves. I suppose it is player preference, and therefore your preference too. I can neither deny or confirm if NFL Authentics come with elastic or non-elastic sleeves, because I have never paid $230 for a jersey. And I never will.

Another interesting bit, is sometimes the sleeve stripes wrap all the way around:

and sometimes they dont:

Thats odd, and if anyone has any information as to why, then be sure to let us know. I'd guess it may just change with year, weather, or player preference.

And if you followed this guide, then hopefully you'll have gone from buying this:

To this:

Good luck, and remember to trust your instincts.

Author's Note:
This guide was intended for ebay, but they have a 5 picture limit, so f@ck'em.

Thanks to everyone who's jersey guide I have read and learend from.

Special Thanks to everyone at the The Fantasy Football Guys message boards and the Chicago Bears Message Boards for their advice in the making of this guide.

Very Speical Thanks to the Chicago Bears for aquiring Jay "The Savior" Cutler.

Can players be traded for money?

ASU Sun Devils — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:54:54 GMT

Can players be traded for money?

Specific question about 2006 and prior Authentic Alternate jerseys

terryzom — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:00:08 GMT

Tried posting this to the main forum and an existing thread, maybe that's not the right place...
OK, here goes, I know that the present authentic jerseys do not have holes in the stripes on the sleeves, but can anybody out there confirm whether the sleeve stripes on one of the orange authentics from a couple years ago had holes? I just picked up an awesome deal on a used Urlacher jersey I *swear* is an authentic. It has the 2005-2006 NFL jock tag and shield with more stars than the current one, the shield is sewn with clear nylon thread, the spandex sides are hellah thick, and the TV numbers use the correct font. The only bad tell I have is there are holes in the thick heatpressed stripes. I can post pics if needed. Can anyone speak to the authentics of a couple years back with expertise?

LADIES NIGHT???

Fansince 8 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:34:20 GMT

Does anyone know if the Bears still host a class for women where players teach about the rules of football?

I thought they had one a few years back, but my wife really needs to understand the game and stop hounding me while I'm trying to watch!!

Thanks in advance.

Week 2 Picks

johnny_p — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:29:47 GMT

Sun, Sep 20
HOU @ TEN - TEN Win
NO @ PHI - NO Win
ARI @ JAC - ARI win
OAK @ KC - OAK Win
CIN @ GB - GB Win
MIN @ DET - MIN Win
STL @ WAS - WAS Win
NE @ NYJ - NE Win
CAR @ ATL - ATL Win
TB @ BUF - BUF Win
SEA @ SF - SF Win
BAL @ SD - SD Win
PIT @ CHI - PIT Win
CLE @ DEN - DEN Win
NYG @ DAL - NYG Win

Mon, Sep 21
IND @ MIA - IND Win

Cut in Roster Size

JimEbbs — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:11:57 GMT

Hi what date do the bears have to cut the roster down to 53 men?

Thanks

Jim

Brandon Marshall

smkngonzo — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:09:10 GMT

Who thinks we should go for this WR??

HELP... can't see highlights on NFL.com

Montrealbear — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:04:09 GMT

I had no idea where to place this, and often someone here has some simple solutions. I can't seem to access the highlights of games on NFL.com... I have Flash 10....? and have uninstalled, and reinstalled enough times to go crazy. I've tried it on Firefox and on Explorer... and still it just keeps spinning around saying 'accessing video' or something like that.

Any one here had similar problems, but solved it?

Thanks

Its time to stop being cheap

34fan4life — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:59:18 GMT

Ive been a Bears fan since 1974. I was maybe 8 at the time. Why is it that Chicago teams (Bears) will not spend the money they have to help their teams win. We have a great defense but these guys are getting older and cant do the things they used to. They may have 2 good years left. We have an opportunity to go to the Superbowl this year but we are missing one key ingrediant. A reciever. Donald Driver hit the nail right on the head recently. We have no threat down field. Hester is not going to do the job. Put him back to what he is best doing. Opposing defenses are not going to respect our offense. Yes we got Cutler but thats not enough. Defense wins games but when your defense is on the field more than half the game, they tire out and are no good in the fourth quarter. Cutler is crying for Brandon Marshall. That would be a perfect fit. These guys want to play with each other. Chicago is a big market. Use it to your advantage. Owners, if you dont want to get this teams to win then sell it to someone who does. Time is running out before you will have to rebuild the whole team.

PreSeason Odds

dariustaylor — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:03:19 GMT

What are the Bears pre-season super bowl odds?

The playbooks, what's the deal?

sherman3 — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:12:26 GMT

When someone is on the roster they are given the relevant playbook for their position. What happens when the leave the team and join someone else? The playbook, I assume is the property of that team. Is there some kind of legal agreement in place to make sure that these potentially valuable items stay within the organization?

Sorry if it is a naive question, just wondering...

Cover 2

skipmann — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:11:30 GMT

Does anyone remember when Bill Walsh started using the west coast offense? It was tough to defend against at first but the league caught on and it wasnt as effective anymore. Do you think the same has happened with the tampa 2 D? It doesnt dominate like it did for Tony D in tampa all those years ago. The current trend seems to be a 3-4. I cant help but think with our LB's we could rock with a 3-4

Practice Squad

ktoblesky — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:30:19 GMT

Can a team 'protect' any of their players on the practice squad or are they fair game for any team that wants to snag one?

SAM

ktoblesky — Wed, 20 May 2009 03:40:01 GMT

Sorry but what's a SAM when refering to a linebacker?

O-line question

BCBBC2202 — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:21:24 GMT

Is LT, LG, C, RG, RT a mandatory formation. If anything's changed, like LT replaced with TE (eligible receiver) is it going to get called for illegal formation? With LT lined up as a FB for example, or gone at all.

Also, can you play with only 10 men on the offense: 4 men o-line, 5 WR and a QB.

Thanks.

Illegal man downfield.

BCBBC2202 — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:45:45 GMT

Can linemen cross the line of scrimmage without getting illegal man downfileld or he has to targeted by qb as a receiver (or he has to cross the 1st down marker)? Always was wondering.