Right after this column debuted in late July with the 32-team T-shirt roundup, a Twitter direct message popped up in my inbox. It was from Homage, the old-school apparel company in Columbus, Ohio, inquiring about a potential collaboration with The MMQB. Having gone to college in Ohio—Go Flyers—I knew about Homage and quickly fired off a note to my boss to gauge interest. Homage already had success with one King—Lebron James wears Homage shirts frequently—so now it was time to try another: Peter King.
The result of that conversation is below, along with a look at some of the best fan apparel from the NFL’s Color Rush campaign and more in the world of football lifestyle.
The MMQB x Homage Collaboration
When a curly-hair afroed senior from Enfield, Conn., sat for a yearbook picture at Ohio University in 1978, he couldn’t have imagined nearly 40 years later the image would be the inspiration for a T-shirt.
Peter King, this is your life.
I’m proud to announce that The MMQB has teamed up with Homage to celebrate the 20th year of King’s signature column with this shirt. The design pays, well, homage to many staples of Monday Morning Quarterback through the years—the coffee cup, 10 things on the typewriter scroll, a baseball—and a couple nods to his roots, like the 1980s Sports Illustrated-inspired football phone on his desk.
A few more notes about this collaboration:
• Proceeds for the Peter King caricature shirt will go to help replace band equipment at a high school in Louisiana damaged by recent floods.
• Homage also produced The MMQB logo shirt, which was worn by Raiders linebacker Khalil Mack on the this week’s cover of Sports Illustrated. The colorway on the shirt—gray material, black lettering—is a nod to the Raider color scheme.
• There were four other colorway variations of The MMQB logo shirt made for NFL player photo shoots that didn’t materialize for one reason or another. One of those shirts was worn by King in his appearance on the Colin Cowherd show.
• The idea for the King caricature shirt came out of an email brainstorming session among The MMQB staffers. Writer Robert Klemko and editor Matt Gagne brought up the idea of the infamous college headshot. Homage designer Kristen Schwenger brought the idea to life.
• Shown the original design, King asked for one addition—the golden retriever under the desk, to honor his beloved two late dogs Bailey and Woody. “For 22 years, it’s how I wrote,” he said.
• Shown the final design, King had this reaction: “Holy s---. This is a real T-shirt. And the only people who will buy it are related to me.”
Prove PK wrong and hit up Homage to order the shirts. And my thanks to the Homage team—Ryan, Elliott, Matt, Anthony, Maddie and others—for all their work to make this collaboration happen.
Color Rush Stuff
All of the attention earlier this week was on the NFL’s release of its new Color Rush uniforms. We saw the first ones in action last night in the Jets-Bills game. But in addition to the new duds for the players, the Color Rush line extends to fans too. I combed through all the pages of the mostly Nike-produced apparel—everything from shoes to shirts to hats—and picked out my favorite three items.
Seattle Seahawks
Nike Train Speed 4 AMP
The as-bright-as-humanly-possible running shoe trend isn’t going anywhere, so rather than fight it—like me—might as well embrace it with these trainers. Nike sent these out to some players this week, and giddy accurately describes their reaction. You can purchase them for whatever team you root for.
New England Patriots
Nike Color Rush Stripe T-Shirt
I love the idea of incorporating uniform stripes into apparel. To be honest, I don’t think Nike even needed the logo on the upper chest—let those stripes subtly speak for themselves. They have every team available, and my favorites in addition to the Patriots—the Jets, the Bears and the Browns.
San Diego Chargers
New Era Color Rush Flex Hat
Kids these days seem to be all about the flat brim, and New Era has you covered if that’s your thing. But I like a simple hat, with a rounded bill and a straightforward logo. There are some good options for every team.
New York Giants
Nike Youth Color Rush Jersey
As for the jerseys themselves, I don’t hate them as much as some; I’m all for the No Fun League going outside the box. The Giants’ version might not be all that colorful, but it’s a clean look and my favorite—with the Vikings and Dolphins up there too. (See every team here.) Just don’t buy one for yourself—jerseys are for kids—and instead reward little Timmy or Tammy for a good first month of school.
Helmets & Stripes
I mentioned these Streaker Sports shirts were coming a few weeks back, and now they’re here. If you’re not a Giants or Jets fan, Streaker has more general football apparel too. For instance, this SoCal Sun shirt inspired by the 1974 WFL team is all kinds of awesome ... Teams trolling other teams might be my favorite part of Twitter, and when you throw in style trash talk, it’s nearly mandatory I link it up ... And this is amazing, and an open invitation for readers to send me any football-related artwork you create. I’ll publish it here.
Published every Friday, The MMQB Football Lifestyle column is a curated list of links to what’s catching Dom’s eye off the field. The MMQB has affiliate deals with some of the brands featured and receives commission on certain purchases. Have an item for consideration? Share it.
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