Miami Dolphins pants stripes 1973 - 1980

The outer stripes on the Dolphins pants were mismatched from the rest of the uniform through this period, sometimes looking almost yellow.

NY Jets @ Miami 11/19/72 - pants stripe match


Buffalo @ Miami 10/21/73 - the yellow/orange stripes show up this season


Super Bowl VIII 1/13/74


Miami @ Buffalo 9/22/74 {at the risk of getting on Bill's bad side, the PAB's switched to aqua this year...  }


Miami @ San Diego 9/29/74 - they fix the orange of the socks, but the pants are still off


Miami @ Cleveland 11/28/76 {last year of aqua PAB's}


Miami @ Cincinnati 11/20/77 {PAB's back to orange}


Miami @ Washington 12/3/78



NY Jets @ Miami 12/15/79 - pants stripes become considerably wider this year, but the color is still off



Miami @ Atlanta 9/21/80



Miami @ New England 11/8/81 - finally, the correct orange!


Buffalo @ Miami 12/19/81

Hmm - some possible explanations:

1.  Different pants material fades out more quickly - or pants were used for multiple seasons causing the fade-out.
2.  Different pants supplier screws up the order with the lighter orange.
3.  Photo quality - faded photos, bad resolution of digital images, etc.

Personally I always thought it was just the difference between dyed fabric on the pants and screen printing/heat press vinyl on the jerseys and the vinyl decals/stripes on the helmets.

John C wrote:Hmm - some possible explanations:

1.  Different pants material fades out more quickly - or pants were used for multiple seasons causing the fade-out.
2.  Different pants supplier screws up the order with the lighter orange.
3.  Photo quality - faded photos, bad resolution of digital images, etc.

Personally I always thought it was just the difference between dyed fabric on the pants and screen printing/heat press vinyl on the jerseys and the vinyl decals/stripes on the helmets.

I think I'm leaning toward #2. Look at 1978 and 1979 as an example. They switched to pants with wider stripes in 1979 but the color was still way off.

Miami @ San Diego 10/15/78


Miami vs NY Jets 12/15/79