The Indianapolis Colts are turning back the clock more than half a century for one week this season.
On Wednesday, the Colts announced they will wear a throwback uniform for their Week 12 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The special uniform modeled after the 1956 Colts is intended to honor the Colts teams of the late 1950s, which featured star players like quarterback Johnny Unitas, fullback Alan Ameche and flanker Lenny Moore. The franchise -- which was then based in Baltimore -- won consecutive championships in 1958 and 1959, including the heart-stopping 1958 title contest known as the Greatest Game Ever Played, a sudden-death overtime thriller which has long been credited for helping vault the NFL into the top position in the American sporting landscape.
Indianapolis' take on the throwback uniform might remind Colts fans of a similar throwback worn during the Peyton Manning era. Like that throwback set, this uniform features Indianapolis' signature horseshoe logo on the back of the helmet, but unlike the throwbacks Indianapolis wore in the first decade of this century, the helmets will remain white and the horseshoes blue. The vintage threads see the Colts' two-stripe pattern move down from the shoulders to the sleeves, where three stripes run parallel to the field.
Player numbers will be displayed on the shoulders of these jerseys instead of the sleeves, and the Colts have replaced their typical two stripes running down the length of the pants with a wider single blue stripe.
Stripes return to the Colts' blue socks, and will match the throwback sleeve striping design with a trio of white lines.
Indianapolis released the uniform with a promotional video fit for a throwback uniform hailing from the 1950s, with clips of current players interspersed with images of past Colts greats and orchestral music backing the footage.
Indianapolis will use throwback branding throughout the week, swapping its horseshoe primary logo with its bucking Colt historical logo. Fans will be able to purchase merchandise bearing the historical marks from NFL Shop.
