This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/21/2017
In 1949 the Rams combined with the defunct Los Angeles Dons and radically changed their team colors from the familiar blue and gold to red and gold. The reason for the change in hues went unrecorded, but it certainly brought good fortune to the team: the Rams won the first of three consecutive Conference Championships. The odd USC-like color scheme lasted for only one season before they restored their familiar blue and gold. This jersey is a rare surviving example of that one-year color scheme. The gold jersey has the number “21” on both the front and back in the one-year only red cotton twill. The long sleeves have elbow pads and the crotch piece has the size “44” MacGregor-Goldsmith label affixed. Cleaning instruction label is sewn adjacent to the MacGregor label. The jersey shows good wear with no rips or tears. The numbers show some puckering from repeated laundering and remain firmly stitched to the jersey. There are light perspiration and turf stains found throughout, but the condition is extraordinary for being a 70 year-old game used NFL jersey. There is no player provenance or identifying marks on the jersey, but quarterback Jim Hardy is depicted in a 1949 program wearing number 21. However Hardy was traded before the season, so this may have been ordered before he left the team.