ESPN's Paul Lukas studies Dallas Cowboys uniforms

more thoroughly than anyone ever has. His article is heaven for nerdy Dallas Cowboys fans (like me):

3. SILVER MINE

The Cowboys always wear silver pants, right? Right -- sort of. The team actually has two different sets of silver pants in its wardrobe: one with a greenish-blue tone and royal blue piping, which is worn with the white jerseys, and a more conventional silver version with navy piping, which is worn with the club's seldom-seen blue jerseys. No vaguely reasonable explanation for this has ever been proffered. Not only that, the Dallas helmet doesn't match either of the pants' hues, meaning the Cowboys actually use three shades of silver.

Uniqueness Factor: Very high. Some teams occasionally have trouble matching their helmet color to their jersey or pants, because fabric dyes work differently than plastic dyes. But the Cowboys don't have one intended version of silver that accidentally turns out three different ways -- they actually have three different silvers in their official color specs. No other NFL team has this kind of color confusion codified in its uniform design.

Annoyance Factor: Very high. Kindly pick one silver and stick with it for all applications, end of story.

4. EVEN COWBOYS GET THE BLUES

The Cowboys' chromatic inconsistencies go beyond silver. When they wear their white jerseys (i.e., about 90 percent of the time), their socks, pants striping and uni numbers are royal, but the blue on their helmets is navy, so the two blues clash.

Uniqueness Factor: Very high. Other NFL teams understand the simple concept that your colors should match.

Annoyance Factor: Huge. Are these people colorblind, or what?

The most beautiful dark Cowboys uniform evah:


although, I do wonder if the jersey color has been enhanced in a photo studio. Regardless: you can see the jersey color is stunningly beautiful. Tex Schramm demanded to see shade after shade of blues. He then selected the brightest dark blue which was available. It's a Jerry Jones mistake that he did not retain the stunning shade for the dark jerseys.

You cannot tell in this photo, but Schramm also put the Cowboys into the sparkliest silver pants ever seen. The effect of the brightest dark blue jerseys + the sparkliest silver pants was uniformly spectacular. Makes me wistful.

Here's to you: Tex Schramm. Salute!