Monday, February 9, 2015

Brown Bears (1997-2000)


Under new coach Phil Estes, Brown made some tweaks to the brown-and-silver uniforms it had introduced during the Mark Whipple era (1994-96). A brown bear logo replaced the school seal and the jersey numbers were given a double outline.

Two notable things about this style: 

1) The big Ivy League logo patch on the front, which the Bears had worn since '94. No other football team the Ancient Eight wore this on the uniforms, but it was used by teams in other sports (Dartmouth baseball immediately comes to mind).

2) In 2001, Brown completely overhauled the uniform, wearing white helmets with a bear paw on the sides and a simple all-brown uniform. But in 2004, Brown returned to the 1997-2000 uniform in full, the only differences being the addition of a wordmark on the jersey front and narrower jersey numbers. I wonder what was the story behind that one. 

No. 24 was worn by Sean Morey, who holds Brown records for receiving yardage in a season (1,434, 1997) and a career (3,850, 1995-98). He later spent a decade in the NFL as a special-teams ace.

The 2000 Brown media guide. Wire receiver Stephen Campbell (14)
still holds school records for catches in a season (120 in 2000) and a career (205).
One-hundred-twenty catches in 10 games? Damn.

Brown wore this look when it won the Ivy League title in '99, only the second in school history. Estes and the Bears have since added two more Ivy titles to the trophy case.

Elements of this uniform can still be seen in the current look, particularly the dated double-outline numbers. 

More Campbell, on a 2000 schedule.

A couple more skeds.

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