Nike Football debuts the Nike Vapor Laser Talon that incorporates a revolutionary 3D printed plate that will help football athletes perform at their best. In a version built to master the 40, the Nike Vapor Laser Talon weighs a mere 5.6 oz. and is specifically designed for optimal traction on football turf and helping athletes maintain their “drive stance” longer. Expect to see these on the feet of many athletes at the NFL combines this week.

The plate of the cleat is crafted using Selective Laser Sintering technology (SLS) and is the sport’s first 3D printed plate. SLS is a manufacturing technique using high-powered lasers to fuse small particles of materials into a 3-dimentional shape. The SLS process allows for the engineering and creation of shapes not possible with traditional manufacturing processes, as well as the ability to make design updates within hours instead of months to truly accelerate the innovation process to never seen speeds.

Imagine a world in the future where we will able to purchase and print athletic gear at home!

Introducing the football cap that the Atlanta Falcons will wear on the sidelines for the 2012 season. Today, New Era unveiled their first ever NFL On-Field cap collection. These caps will be worn by NFL players on the sidelines during regular season and posteseason games. The collection is available for purchase at New Era Flagship stores, neweracap.com, NFLShop.com and other retailers beginning July 12.

In April 2012, New Era became the exclusive and official headwear supplier for the National Football League (NFL) for all sideline, locker room, NFL Draft Day and Super Bowl caps as well as having rights for fan headwear worldwide.

“This collection is built for the hot days in September and the frigid evenings in December. For over 90 years, New Era has been providing athletes and fans with high quality products,” says Christopher H. Koch, CEO, New Era. “We’re thrilled to bring our first ever NFL On-Field collection with a unique combination of style, comfort and technology to the NFL sidelines.”

Sport performance is one of the center pillars of the New Era brand. The NFL On-Field Collection is infused with NE TECH properties that will keep both players and fans comfortable well into the off-season. DRYERA™ is specially treated fabric that repeals water whenever inclement weather sneaks up. Additionally, the collection has COOLERA™, a moisture management system that wicks away sweat and disperses it quickly.

The NFL Kickoff game on Wednesday, September 5, when the Super Bowl XLVI-champion New York Giants host the Dallas Cowboys, will mark the first time a 59FIFTY will appear on the sidelines at an NFL game. Throughout the season, knits, headbands and 59FIFTY Dog Ears, will headline the NFL Cold Weather Collection which will debut later into the season. When the temperature drops, this upcoming collection will keep players and fans warm.

Nike unveiled uniforms for all 32 NFL teams today at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, NY. The system, known as The Nike Elite 51 Uniform, is truly the next generation in superior lightweight performance delivering a fully integrated system of dress for athletes at the highest level. Nike offered key technological upgrades to all 32 NFL teams, and each team’s management decided what features to include in their team’s 2012 uniform set.

The key features are:
LIGHTER –The Nike jersey and pant, wet or dry are lighter than previous versions
FLYWIRE TECHNOLOGY- Eliminates layers, reduces weight, and provides lockdown fit
ZONED MESH VENTILATION – Provides cooling zones for optimal thermoregulation
ZONED STRENGTH – High tenacity, stretch material, for light weight lockdown strength.
CUT FOR MOBILITY – Four-way stretch, hydrophobic materials enable range of motion wet or dry.
STRETCH TWILL NUMBERS – Four-way stretch even on numbering system
CUSTOMIZABLE BASELAYER PADDING – Nike Pro Combat Hyperstrong baselayer with integrated lightweight, Deflex padding offering customizable flexible protection.
DEFLEX PADDING – Lightweight, flexible impact protection integrated into top “hit zone” areas
ALUMINUM D-RING BELT – Aircraft-grade aluminum D-ring belt reduces weight.

Check out this interactive tech sheet for a guided tour of the uniform upgrades.

Want to see what some of these uniforms look like up close? Check out my instagram images from the event after the jump.

Alex Smith answers questions about the Nike Elite 51 Uniforms

While staying true to their traditional look, the Dallas Cowboys actually integrated a few of these advancements into their uniform. The most obvious addition is the flywire collar.

The Atlanta Falcons chose not to integrate any new technology into their helmet, jersey, or pants. Why do you think upper management in ATL was so resistant to change? Do you think it’s because Mr. Blank doesn’t want to rock the boat with an already fickle fanbase? Perhaps he was afraid to change color-blocking to accommodate for the integrated tech? I do like the Falcons uniforms as is, so I guess I’m still happy with the way they look. I was hoping to be wowed, but I’m not disappointed.

Michael Vick answers questions about the Nike Elite 51 Uniforms. The Philadelphia Eagles were also one of 5 teams that decided not to change their existing uniforms. Perhaps there is equity in what they’re rolling with and they don’t want to change for the sake of changing? I guess I can respect that.

The Carolina Panthers haven’t integrated much of the new offerings yet, but they did get a logo update. The Panther now is sleeker, has simpler color-blocking, and now has matching whiskers.

The Seattle Seahawks did get a complete uniform update and I’ll be reviewing them in a separate article, coming up shortly.

Finally, design-wise, we don’t see many visual changes among these uniform sets, but I imagine that there will be some exciting changes coming in the next few years as this is just the beginning of Nike’s relationship with the NFL. Also, teams are only allowed to change their uniforms once every 5 years, so I imagine more teams will be hungry for new looks as those deadlines expire.

This season, the official headwear of the NFL will finally be provided by New Era. As a cap wearer, this is an announcement I’ve been waiting my whole life for. Finally, I’ll be able to rock caps of my favorite football teams and they’ll fit like they’re supposed to!

This new partnership launches with the Draft Collection. Draft Collection speaks to the city and is a symbol of the moment a player and city become one. The famed 59FIFTY (fitted cap, center) will be worn by players on Draft Day. Agents, family and friends will wear 9FIFTY snapbacks (left) and 39THIRTY stretch fit caps (right).

All product is available for purchase at midnight on April 1 at New Era Flagship stores only. The Draft Collection will be available at all participating retailers and Neweracap.com on April 2.

With only one more NFL game to be played under the Reebok contract, the folks at Nike are preparing to make some exciting changes to the way teams look on the field. Get hyped up by Michael Irvin in this Nike Football Epic Transformation video.

Yesterday’s Pro Bowl in Hawaii marked the beginning of the Nike era with some new cleats and these awesome team logo gloves (photos after the jump).

Last week, I experienced Nike’s new SPARQ Sensory Performance innovations in action. I have no doubt in my mind that this new approach to vision training in conjunction with all other aspects of physical training will give an edge to the athletes who utilize these advancements. What’s most interesting is that vision training can be used by athletes of all levels to increase focus, reaction times & anticipation in any sport. I could rattle off a list of athletes off the top of my head that could use vision training immediately: Ahem… Josh Hamilton… Ahem…

SPARQ Sensory Performance is a system of technologies, products and programs designed to assess, analyze and improve an athlete’s visual and sensory performance. It’s another step in Nike’s nearly 40-year legacy of delivering game-changing innovations to help athletes perform at their peak.

“Sensory training is at the cornerstone of how we can build better athletes,” said Paul Winsper, SPARQ Performance Director. “With SSP we’re able to integrate both sensory and physical training together. This performance philosophy has resonated with some of the top athletes, teams and clubs throughout the world.”

Nike SPARQ Sensory Stations

As the first step in improving an athlete’s performance, the SSP “assess” phase uses the Nike SPARQ Sensory Station, an interactive touch screen device, to evaluate athletes on 10 sport-relevant visual and sensory performance skills. The personalized station then translates that raw data into next steps for the athlete, which can guide a training program. The resulting SPARQ Sensory Performance profile compares an athlete’s results to others in their sport, position and skill level to provide a roadmap for improvement.

I underwent these tests and compared my results to all other professional soccer defenders in Nike’s database and I’ll post my results as soon as I get over my embarrassment at my scores. Welp, it seems that countless hours spent pushing pixels isn’t great for my vision or health.

Once the assessment and analysis are complete, Nike SSP provides two key tools designed to help an athlete improve: The Nike SPARQ Sensory Training Station and Nike SPARQ Vapor Strobe Eyewear. Athletes at any skill level can integrate both into their training programs to hone their sensory skills.

Nike SPARQ Vapor Strobe Eyewear

Following visual testing to evaluate different aspects of the athlete’s visual skills, a crucial tool to improve key areas is the Nike SPARQ Vapor Strobe Eyewear. By blocking or disrupting vision using a strobe or flicker effect that can be varied in speed, an athlete can develop quicker reaction times and motor skills. The strobe effect improves reaction time by switching between clear and blocked vision, which trains the brain to anticipate what‘s coming when the eyes are blocked. Features include an adjustable head strap for a secure fit and liquid-crystal lens technology with variable speeds for different levels of training.

“After years of tireless testing, we’ve discovered an innovative way to help increase athletic performance,” said Dr. Alan Reichow, Global Research Director of Nike SPARQ Sensory Performance and Vision. “The SSP ecosystem of testing and products allows our team to serve the athlete with a clear and actionable plan that helps them see sport better.”

The system is already proving effective. Two recent studies* showed that training with the Nike SPARQ Vapor Strobes improved:
1) The ability to pick up subtle motion cues
2) Visual information processing
3) Timing of motion

When looking at the list of athletes that participate in SPARQ Sensory Performance training, I’m not surprised that they’re at the top of their game. Kevin Durant, Larry Fitzgerald, Greg Jennings, Misty May-Treanor, A.J. Pierzynski all get an edge.

“I catch balls for a living. What I do is eye-hand coordination, so any way that I can improve my eye-hand coordination is going to be pivotal throughout my career. The Nike SPARQ Vapor Strobes are a total game changer, a training game changer. You take vision for granted, you take catching the ball for granted but the Vapor Strobes force you to focus on the fundamentals.” -Greg Jennings

Nike SPARQ Sensory Training Stations use software-based training modules to improve multiple sensory performance skills. The stations can be used regularly as an integrated part of training programs for athletes at all levels. Top collegiate and professional programs have purchased the Nike strobe eyewear and stations, with a full global rollout now in action.

The Nike SPARQ Vapor Strobe Eyewear is $300 USD and available Internationally at NikeStore.com. Both the Nike SPARQ Sensory Station and Nike SPARQ Sensory Training Station are available through the Nike SPARQ Sensory Training Help Desk (1-855-870-6778 or NSSTsupport@nike.com).

* Duke University Study: Appelbaum LG, Schroeder JE, Cain MS and Mitroff SR (2011) Improved visual cognition through stroboscopic training. Front. Psychology 2:276. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00276

* Southern Utah University Study: Smith, T.Q. (2011) Sensory Training: Nike Strobe (Master’s thesis). Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT.

Calling all sports fans! Please take a moment to check out this new website, The Sportsfan Journal; written by 2 of my good friends, Ed Maisonet III & Kenny Masenda. I’ve know these 2 cats for a few years now, and I believe their form of journalism is a refreshing take on sports. I find myself reading their articles more than I do from the mainstream sports media on the bigger websites. Take a look for yourself here.

We Are the Process Fantasy Football League (#WATPFFL) is back, and YES I totally nerded-out and designed some We Are the Process football uniforms on some Nike Pro Combat templates. On a semi-related tangent: Only 1 more season until Nike gets to start making officially licensed gear for the NFL! It’s funny to see college teams wearing Pro Combat equipment that is better than that of the pros.

Unfortunately, the We Are the Process Fantasy Football League is already full. We have lots of returning team managers, and our 3 newest members spoke up last year. It’s never too late to start begging to be considered for next season. You can start by emailing us at info@wearetheprocess.com and submitting your name, email address, and “WATPFFL: Tier 2″ in the subject line to join-up in our Tier 2 league for this season. The best player(s) will get the invite to the big show next year. Trust me, it’s worth it.

Check out the other uniforms I geeked-out on after the jump.

Another We Are the Process inspired football uniform


Dirty South Octopi uniform (My fantasy football team)

Dick’s Sporting Goods pinnacle doors are opening across the country and showcasing the Nike Fieldhouse, where consumers enjoy premium access to the latest Nike footwear, apparel and equipment. To build awareness around these stores, Nike is hosting events that feature in-store activities such as on site t-shirt customization, photo booth, an in-store appearance and Q&A session with Atlanta Falcons QB MATT RYAN, and prize giveaways. A scheduled Nike tech rep onsite can offer training and product guidance.

Event Details:
Saturday, May 14th
11am – 1pm
Lenox Marketplace
(Dicks Sporting Goods)
3535 Peachtree Road
Atlanta, GA 30326

As they enter Cowboys Stadium today to play in Super Bowl XLV, four key Nike athletes will be wearing custom “Destroy With Speed” Destroyer Jackets by Nike Sportswear. These jackets bear hints of volt green which has been a signature Nike color to reference speed as of late. Each jacket is emblazoned with the players’ position, on-field jersey number, and last name stitched on the breast and will surely break a few necks during pre-game activites. Check out more photos after the jump.