Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

Earlier this week, a post on the Baltimore Sun’s Ravens message board had a post with links to images that purported to be Nike Pro Combat uniform designs for the 2012 NFL season. That’s when Nike will replace Reebok as the league’s uniform supplier, and Nike’s Charlie Denson said in October of this yearthat the company “(plans) on changing the NFL jersey dramatically just like we’ve done with the college programs, using new thinking and the greatest technology available. The NFL program hasn’t had the same type of advancement in recent years.”

Those with fears that Nike would do to the NFL’s uniforms what has been done to the on-field apparel of the Oregon Ducks’ football team – a series of alternate uniforms, each more bizarre than the last – may have had those fears compounded by the images of the supposedly new NFL designs. The color schemes are interesting, to say the least, with teams like the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers getting among the most drastic makeovers.

The new designs made their way around the internet, with responses running the gamut. But Yahoo! Sports has confirmed with a Nike source what has been reported elsewhere through the day — the designs are not real, and the graphics have nothing whatsoever to do with whatever changes Nike may be making to the NFL uniforms. They are well-done but amateur-created art, most likely based on the current Pro Combat college uniform concepts. (That is to say, well-done for the most part — whoever designed the new fake Kansas City Chiefs uni needs to go back to the drawing board).

There will be more information about the actual NFL uniforms in the near future, and Shutdown Corner will be on the scene. Stay tuned…

By Doug Farrar