Can anyone explain this Bills jersey number oddity from the late 80's?

[RocCityRoller]

4 hours ago, eball said:

The answer is clear:  Ralph was cheap.

 

I knew this was coming

 

A true X-files mystery!

 

[Albany,n.y.]

Buy a Josh Allen jersey & you'll never have to buy another one.  

[jletha]

1 hour ago, Roundybout said:

You should send this over to Paul Lukas of UniWatch. He loves this kind of stuff. uni-watch.com

Absolutely should, Uniwatch is great and this is the perfect oddity for him to look into.

[Starr Almighty]

2 be or not 2 be? That is the question

[thenorthremembers]

I have the exact jersey you are thinking of ordering, bought it for the same reason you are looking to buy it.  Wanted something that wouldnt age, also didnt want to  wear the jersey of someone younger than me, always found that odd.   Anyways, if you end up getting it make sure to wash it sparingly and hang dry it.   The red around the numbers faded on mine and is pink now.   On the plus side its a pretty thick material, more like a Hockey Sweater.  

[That's No Moon]

4 hours ago, eball said:

The answer is clear:  Ralph was cheap.

 

It's actually the correct answer too.

[The Avenger]

I'm getting a mental picture of you in your basement with a whole wall of different pictures connected by pushpins and strings going everywhere and little post-it notes interspersed with things like "Why?'" and "What does this mean?". I hope you haven't been up for 96 hours straight... 

[BLeonard]

38 minutes ago, Albany,n.y. said:

Buy a Josh Allen jersey & you'll never have to buy another one.  

Kelly's jersey was my first.  Second was Bledsoe.  Then, Takeo Spikes, followed by Marshawn Lynch, JP Losman (Wife), Paul Posluzsny (Wife), James Hardy, Mario Williams and Stevie Johnson (Wife).

 

Sorry, we're not taking the responsibility of owning a Josh Allen jersey.  You're all welcome.

17 minutes ago, The Avenger said:

I'm getting a mental picture of you in your basement with a whole wall of different pictures connected by pushpins and strings going everywhere and little post-it notes interspersed with things like "Why?'" and "What does this mean?". I hope you haven't been up for 96 hours straight... 

Nah, most of this just happened in the past few hours.  I knew about the issue with Kelly's jersey and how he only wore the box in 86 for quite a while now.  But then, I saw the game from 87 and saw others wearing the box, while Kelly was in the diagonal.

[chongli]

Wow, I thought I was a perfectionist.

[US Egg]

I ignored this thread because of the title. But, reconsidered it.

 

Now I need closure on this historical numerical mystery snafu.

[Logic]

People are giving the OP a lot of guff, but I feel like it's reasonable to want a jersey that is an authentic replica of the home jersey Kelly actually wore in 1990.

As to how to find one or why the issue came up to begin with, I cannot answer.

I do see some blue home Kelly jerseys on EBay with the correct diagonal 2, but I am not sure of their authenticity or lack thereof.

Aside from rolling the dice on one of those, the only other thing I can think of would be to send an e-mail to the Bills store. I doubt it would work, but it's worth a shot.

[BLeonard]

49 minutes ago, Logic said:

People are giving the OP a lot of guff, but I feel like it's reasonable to want a jersey that is an authentic replica of the home jersey Kelly actually wore in 1990.

As to how to find one or why the issue came up to begin with, I cannot answer.

I do see some blue home Kelly jerseys on EBay with the correct diagonal 2, but I am not sure of their authenticity or lack thereof.

Aside from rolling the dice on one of those, the only other thing I can think of would be to send an e-mail to the Bills store. I doubt it would work, but it's worth a shot.

Honestly, I'm not bothered by people getting a kick out of it.  It's just one of the quirks that I have that 9 out of 10 people probably didn't even realize until this post.

 

The thing is, Mitchell & Ness also makes the 1994 throwback authentic jerseys, which DOES have the correct 2.  Essentially, all I want is that, without the anniversary patches.  Most times I've looked on Ebay, the closest I can come is used and I'd just prefer a new one, if at all possible.

 

I suppose I could try emailing the store, but my guess is, whoever gets the emails will probably know less about the difference in the 2s than the people here, or worse, they'll try to convince me to buy a #18 Case Keenum jersey, so "you don't have to worry about which 2 is on it if it's an 8 instead!"

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

5 hours ago, RocCityRoller said:

I knew this was coming

 

A true X-files mystery!

 

 

 

 

so the Bills we’ve been watching are not really the Bills? Or..the old Bills were not really there?...my head is spinning….

[Nextmanup]

How about buying a different jersey that doesn't have this weird number problem on it? 

 

There are more jerseys out there with different numbers.  Pick another player.  

 

It's clearly annoying you, so I don't recommend buying it, though that is what most people would do, and it wouldn't bother them.

 

 

[Maybe Someday]

Take look at the team photo from 1988. 4 players in front row with #s in the 20s and they each alternate styles. Then it keeps alternating with #s 42, 52 & 62. 
 

Very strange indeed. 

 

Maybe buy the jersey from 1990 and update the tag to show 1986?

Edited October 25, 2022 by Maybe Someday

[Playoffs?]

11 hours ago, MJS said:

From the pictures it looks like the box 2 is always the first number and the diagonal 2 is the second.

Who was number 22?  Gotta see it!

[Low Positive]

12 minutes ago, Playoffs? said:

Who was number 22?  Gotta see it!

It was a dude I don’t remember named John Hagy. Diagonal 2s

https://www.gettyimages.ch/detail/nachrichtenfoto/safety-john-hagy-of-the-buffalo-bills-watches-from-the-nachrichtenfoto/80683067?language=fr

[Sierra Foothills]

3 minutes ago, FrenchConnection said:

It was a dude I don’t remember named John Hagy. Diagonal 2s

https://www.gettyimages.ch/detail/nachrichtenfoto/safety-john-hagy-of-the-buffalo-bills-watches-from-the-nachrichtenfoto/80683067?language=fr

 

I remember Hagy. White dude... safety. He was small but packed a wallop. Good college player, just not quite talented enough for the NFL.

[WotAGuy]

4 hours ago, BLeonard said:

Honestly, I'm not bothered by people getting a kick out of it.  It's just one of the quirks that I have that 9 out of 10 people probably didn't even realize until this post.

 

The thing is, Mitchell & Ness also makes the 1994 throwback authentic jerseys, which DOES have the correct 2.  Essentially, all I want is that, without the anniversary patches.  Most times I've looked on Ebay, the closest I can come is used and I'd just prefer a new one, if at all possible.

 

I suppose I could try emailing the store, but my guess is, whoever gets the emails will probably know less about the difference in the 2s than the people here, or worse, they'll try to convince me to buy a #18 Case Keenum jersey, so "you don't have to worry about which 2 is on it if it's an 8 instead!"

I’m loving this thread. Interesting stuff, especially the part about Flip Johnson wearing a jersey that has the TV numbers on the shoulders while everyone else was wearing them on their sleeves. 

[RocCityRoller]

31 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

I remember Hagy. White dude... safety. He was small but packed a wallop. Good college player, just not quite talented enough for the NFL.

Nailed it. Hagy was a S who could hit like a ton of bricks. The 6 or so times he was in the correct position he did! 🤣