Every Football Logo Explained | NFL Teams

Music by Evan Schaeffer, / evanschaeffer
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Have you ever wondered how every NFL team got its Logo? Well I did too!
I wanted to know what every Football Logo looked like through the years, season to season, so I decided to take an unreasonably long time to research each team and create this video. Hopefully you learn a thing or two, too! Each team is listed in the order that they were founded or became a part of the NFL and I try and cover every logo the team has ever had!
I hope you enjoy the history of every NFL logo!
If you're looking for notes the links from the video, apparently KZbin has a limit to the number of characters in the description and I surpassed it by 1700... oops! I made a blog post here with those notes:
www.justinlearnsthings.com/vid...
#NFL #Football #Sports #History #Design
Be sure to like and subscribe so that you don't miss future videos!
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CHAPTERS:
0:00 Intro & NFL Logo
5:20 Arizona Cardinals
7:34 Green Bay Packers
8:50 Chicago Bears
11:02 New York Giants
13:05 Detroit Lions
16:22 Washington Red Skins
19:12 Pittsburgh Steelers
22:14 Philadelphia Eagles
24:11 Los Angeles Rams
27:03 Cleveland Browns
28:28 San Francisco 49ers
30:09 Indianapolis Colts
31:06 Buffalo Bills
32:17 Denver Broncos
33:31 Kansas City Chiefs
35:00 Los Angeles Chargers
37:59 New England Patriots
40:00 New York Jets
41:55 Tennessee Titans
43:27 Dallas Cowboys
44:01 Minnesota Vikings
44:48 Las Vegas Raiders
46:14 Atlanta Falcons
47:14 Miami Dolphins
49:03 New Orleans Saints
49:51 Cincinnati Bengals
51:12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
52:45 Seattle Seahawks
53:28 Carolina Panthers
54:13 Jacksonville Jaguars
55:30 Baltimore Ravens
56:53 Houston Texans
57:23 Outro
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[@JustMikeDotTv]

I’m surprised you didn’t point out that the Eagles are the only current logo facing left in the NFL to form the E.

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Oh dang! I always miss some of those cool design features! I literally spent 100 hours on the video and still there's just so much history going on. That's a really cool design feature that I now can't unsee! Thanks for sharing!

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

@@JustinLearnsThings Could also have mentioned that the Falcons' falcon-logo forms an "F" and the removal of the helmet on the Dolphins' logo is an animal friendly decision since the helmet covered the Dolphin's blow hole which it needs to breathe!

[@luhair_]

@@JustinLearnsThingshey actually the bucks to

[@Oilerpa]

You forgot that for 2 years they were called the Tennessee Oilers. They had a logo with an oil derrick and the Tennessee stars

[@KixMusaid]

Washington’s arrow logo in the 60 looked really clean!

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Yeah I hadn’t seen that one before researching this video!!

[@j_geau]

Always great seeing these videos from you! I can imagine there is a lot of effort that goes into them. Keep it up!

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Thank you! This one was nearly 100 hours to get done! 😅

[@woneymalian4513]

awesome job! Very interesting for me, being a graphic designer and brazilian wanting to understand the culture and context of american sports... thanks for the hard work, man!!

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Appreciate it! Thanks for watching!

[@MrTwarner]

5:29 That M actually originally stood for the University of Chicago Maroons, who had just become members of the Big Ten at the time. UChicago lent (sold?--I'm not sure on that part) their old uniforms to the new team. The eventual Cardinals changed their name to that because sports journalists thought the faded maroon of the uniforms looked more like cardinal red, so they made that unofficial nickname official. UChicago is also where they got the stylized C logo from (although the Reds were also using something similar by that time).

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Oh wow great point! I remember that they had gotten the uniforms from the university but hadn’t made that connection! That’s a really good bit! Thank you!

[@Soggy5271]

Plz do this with the NHL!!! And MLB

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Definitely in the plans!!

[@MariaDuarte-xh2sm]

He did

[@Soggy5271]

@@MariaDuarte-xh2sm no every logo explained

[@Hockeystar-xz4ch]

Yes

[@CharlieHepp]

Always great seeing these videos from you! I can imagine there is a lot of effort that goes into them. Keep it up! You forgot that for 2 years they were called the Tennessee Oilers. They had a logo with an oil derrick and the Tennessee Stars I’m surprised you didn’t point out that the Eagles are the only current logo facing left in the NFL to form the E. 5:29 That M actually originally stood for the University of Chicago Maroons, who had just become members of the Big Ten at the time. UChicago lent (sold?--I'm not sure on that part) their old uniforms to the new team. The eventual Cardinals changed their name to that because sports journalists thought the faded maroon of the uniforms looked more like cardinal red, so they made that unofficial nickname official. UChicago is also where they got the stylized C logo (although the Reds were also using something similar by that time). 1) The Niagara Frontier League does use that logo you mentioned. But there isn’t an actual date from when it was first used. The league itself began in 1937 when 2 high school leagues merged. 2) It should be mentioned that the original Buffalo Bills colors in 1959 when first formed were similar to the Lions due to Ralph Wilson having minority ownership of the Lions. One cool new series could be covering the CFL as you did with the NFL or more exotic the AFL (Australian Football League) If you wanna keep the logo/name thing going you should definitely go into uniforms Plz do this with the NHL!!! And MLB I Watched from start to finish! Will there be a future video explaining the team's endzones from their team's first year to the present? Proofs again that the more simple the logo the easier recognizable and less confusing it is. One example is the old anthropomorphic Cardinals logo: Its arm looks like a scorpion's tail at first glance. The late 1940s Eagles logo looks almost like the eagle on German WW2 Luftwaffe (air force) uniforms. Other than that I think any symbol logo beats any letter logo by a mile. The Chicago Bears should have a bear on their helmet, not a boring "C", and the Raider finally needs to ditch the eyepatch and get a modern helmet. The Raiders logo is so timeless. No way would you assume their logo was created as far back as 1964. Could you do this with colleges? Like conferences at a time so SEC one video and Big Ten the next In all and complete honesty, you are one of the most underrated channels I have seen on this platform. I want the old Dolphins logo back. Basically, before the 2013 redesign. The logo for Niagara Sports League is the first logo from 1921-1940 Amazing video! Please keep going! I bought a San Diego Chargers jacket about twenty years ago that had the old NFL logo with the red pinstripes on it but didn't realize that was actually a thing and thought it was just a defect so I sent it back! Incredible work 👏 If you included the failed Chargers logos, you should include the unused but announced Niners logo from the 80s Fun fact: the Philadelphia Eagles logo is the only one facing left. Go Birds. Woahhhh. Shout out to the Western NY NFL. That was awesome Actually, the NFL Logo will be the Coolest logo where it all belongs.

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Thank you for watching! Very much appreciated!

[@miguelespiritosanto9783]

Amazing video! Please keep going!

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Thanks glad you enjoyed it! 🙌

[@kotaowens6978]

Incredible work 👏

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Thanks Grant!! Always appreciate you checking out my new videos! 🙌

[@jaspitv]

Actually NFL Logo will be Coolest logo where it all belongs

[@duaneleavesley3778]

Amazing job!

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Thank you! Thanks for watching!

[@bnb6868]

One cool new series could be covering the CFL like you did with the NFL or more exotic the AFL (Australian football league)

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Yeah I’d definitely like to do both! Hardly know anything about the teams so it’d be fun to learn!

[@bnb6868]

@@JustinLearnsThings Nice. My knowledge is bigger regarding AFL than CFL but for both its rather basic. So you won't be the only one learning something new

[@markdavidson1498]

Fun fact: the Philadelphia Eagles logo is the only one facing left. Go Birds.

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Thanks for watching!

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

Left wing city politics!

[@raven8603]

Great video

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@MikelineTV]

I Watched from start to finish! Will there be a future video explaining the Teams endzones from their teams first year to the present?

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Oh that's a great idea! I'll put that on the list!

[@willamshugo283]

If you wanna keep the logo/name thing going you should def go into uniforms

[@JustinLearnsThings]

I've looked a bit at it because that's a good idea for sure! It's definitely one that's hard to keep up with since they often change slightly every year, so i'll definitely have to think about how to approach a video like that!

[@TheFederalExpressFan]

Nice

[@rogerkidsnews1145]

Omg I’m your biggest fan!

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Haha thank you for watching!

[@user-xe4me8pv3b]

Thank you for bringing back Pat Patriot logo

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Thanks for watching!

[@user-xe4me8pv3b]

@@JustinLearnsThings your welcome

[@anthonywutkowski199]

I want the old Dolphins logo back. Basically, prior to the 2013 redesign.

[@JustinLearnsThings]

There is something fun about the dolphin wearing the helmet!!

[@B-A-L]

I bought a San Diego Chargers jacket about twenty years ago that had the old NFL logo with the red pinstripes on it but didn't realise that was actually a thing and thought it was just a defect so I sent it back!

[@worldcupskifan96]

The logo for Niagara sports league is the first logo from 1921-1940

[@mikecornett2089]

1) The Niagara Frontier League does use that logo you mentioned. But there isn’t an actual date from when it was first used. The league itself began in 1937 when 2 high school leagues merged. 2) It should be mentioned that the original Buffalo Bills colors in 1959 when first formed were similar to the Lions due to Ralph Wilson having minority ownership of the Lions.

[@JustinLearnsThings]

1) yeah I had to get intentionally vague about making any claims around that part because there is basically nothing I could dig up! 2) oh nice didn’t realize that! 🙌

[@mattruetz2088]

Love the video but that background music was making me go crazy entire time. Very neat video though thank you

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Haha yeah I’m trying more and more to find new audio to mix it up! Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it otherwise!

[@Ari22682]

I would love to hear your dissect the symbolism on the new Browns' Dawg logo.

[@Icanthearyou202]

Could you do this with colleges? Like conferences at a time so SEC one vid and Big ten the next

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Definitely! I think that’s a great idea! Thanks for watching!

[@randyhildebrant3809]

Woahhhh. Shout out to the Western NY NFL. That was awesome

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Haha it was a rabbit hole that pulled me in trying to find sources there! 😂

[@connormcmullin4789]

We not gonna talk about the cross buttany being on the maryland flag?

[@JustinLearnsThings]

What would like to talk about with it? Thinking of doing a flag video and that would be a good piece of information. I think I mentioned briefly the ties to flag heraldry

[@joshuafrias2415]

Have there been any expansion teams announced since this video went up? I don't keep up with football news that much, but if there is, I can see two possibilities for what they can do for their logo: 1.) Do something similar to the Bengals and have the first initial of their team name as the logo, just more stylised and with a design evoking the team theme. OR 2.) Use something from the city's past (like a person, trait, or industrial occupation, etc.) and use that as the logo like the steel mark used by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bonus option: Do something like the Baltimore Ravens and make a shield for their logo. I do love me some heraldic shields.

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Not that I know of! Not sure the NFL is currently looking to expand with more franchises. The raiders moved to vegas and the two teams moved to LA. Besides that I think they may feel pretty set for now. I wonder which cities would be most likely to see a future expansion if there was one?

[@joshuafrias2415]

@@JustinLearnsThings OK, I did some sleuthing and I think I might have an idea of which cities could work as football teams. Top one in my search is St. Louis as they used to host the Rams before they moved to LA. Other cities could be Portland or Toronto, or even London as the NFL have done special games over there before. It would be the first international NFL team if Toronto doesn't snatch that title first.

[@JustinLearnsThings]

@@joshuafrias2415 Yeah I definitely think london would be on the top of any expansion lists!

[@joshuafrias2415]

@@JustinLearnsThings I can already imagine the kind of names they would consider if they had an expansion team. Something knight or royalty-related. Who knows? Maybe something geographical.

[@user-dt8vy2yb3d]

I'm so happy that the Kansas City Chiefs & Baltimore Ravens are the only NFL teams having their logos with two sides.

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Thanks for watching!

[@senor-achopijo3841]

My personal top 10 modern logos: 1-Denver Broncos 2-Dallas Cowboys 3-Philadelphia Eagles 4-LA Rams 5-Baltimore Ravens 6-Jacksonville Jaguars 7-Kansas City Chiefs 8-Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-Minnesota Vikings 10-Green Bay Packers

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Thanks for watching!

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

Proofs again that the more simple the logo the easier recognizeable and less confusing it is. One example is the old anthropomorphic Cardinals logo: Its arm looks like a scorpion's tail at first glance. The late 1940s Eagles logo looks almost like the eagle on German WW2 Luftwaffe (air force) uniforms. Other than that I think any symbol logo beats any letter logo by a mile. The Chicago bears should have a bear on their helmet, not a boring "C", and the Raider finally needs to ditch the eyepatch and get a modern helmet.

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Simplicity is definitely key! Too many teams keep tweaking things!

[@petertrudelljr]

So the Raider should get a false eye and look more normal... C'mon, we know Raider fans are differently-abled! Leave the monocular-visioned pirate alone!

[@DMachoMickey]

The original Pat the Patriot looks like he is going to snap more than just the football 😂

[@JustinLearnsThings]

😂

[@manishbonik]

Please make video about USL Championship teams name and logo explainer video.

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Definitely on the list! Thanks!

[@manishbonik]

@@JustinLearnsThings Thanks sir for the reply I am your biggest fan from India.

[@alisonabell7257]

some of the NFL teams are using new uniforms and ;logos would like a video on it

[@alisonabell7257]

gotta do the secendary logos for the NFL, MLB, NHL

[@JustinLearnsThings]

I’ll definitely look at it, might be a cool video!

[@revinevan87]

54:00 it'd have to be exact for you to see it or what?

[@curtisdavis8261]

Ha, Great!

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Thanks for watching!

[@jeffthevideoguy23]

Check out the Redskins helmets that have a feather going up from back to front.

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Thanks for watching!

[@16ktsgamma]

1975 logo for the New York Football Giants looks so horrendous.

[@revinevan87]

Jagwire?

[@sdelmonte]

If you included the failed Chargers logos, you should include the unused but announced Niners logo from the 80s

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Which logo was that one, I’m not sure I’ve come across it!

[@JaeDavies23]

The Raiders logo is so timeless. No way would you assume their logo was created as far back at 1964.

[@JustinLearnsThings]

I feel like a good general rule is the longer its been around, keep it around. The best logos are the ones that are classic and timeless, but it takes decades for it to start feeling that way!

[@rogerkidsnews1145]

Can you do a mlb logo viedo?

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Yup definitely on the list!!

[@rogerkidsnews1145]

Oh good

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

...an* MLB logo video*.

[@LegendaryDorkKnight]

I'm actually sad seeing how the logos have been minimalized over the years. Some of the older logos were FAR more interesting, especially the 49ers, Buccaneers, and Giants.

[@joshuafrias2415]

At least the Buccaneers kept the same concept, just drawn differently. When you say 49ers, are you talking about the logo with the gun-toting prospector?

[@MoaiMonster]

Hey I wanted to make a public wnba logos video,J have it but I will post it for you soon ;)

[@MoaiMonster]

I’ll also send a link

[@noblinkreal]

17:16 Imagine having a helmet on your helmet

[@noblinkreal]

23:32

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Haha like helmet inception

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

BRING BACK THE CURVY L!

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Team Curvy L!

[@alexmorales1419]

Do you go to some NFL games? Which one is your favorite?

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Only occasionally. I’m a cardinals fan!

[@harry_hawaii9932]

Do the prem

[@Shadowtoast76]

Second

[@TheRealOtakuako]

JAG-WAR 😁

[@JustinLearnsThings]

😂 guilty as charged!

[@Austin.Kilgore]

14:16 God.. who did they have drawing these lions? A little kid? This one and the previous one have been terrible looking

[@JustinLearnsThings]

Haha you should see some of the tigers used in the MLB logos over the years! There’s one that’s just hilarious and I had to actually put quite a lot into figuring out the story and recreating it lol

[@rogerkidsnews1145]

Third

[@rogerkidsnews1145]

Omg Justin I’m your biggest fan!