What Does WCF Mean On The Lions Uniform?

If you often watch football on Sundays you may have noticed the WCF patch that the Detroit Lions wear on their uniform. The trouble is many fans do not know what this patch represents.

The WCF on the Lions uniform stands for William Clay Ford. Ford was a previous owner of the team from 1963 to 2014 the year he passed.

This WCF lettering on the jersey is done to pay homage to all the William Clay Ford Sr did for the Lions organization during his tenure.

The year after Ford passed the Lions began to wear a patch on the front on their jersey. The patch was on the front left breast of the uniform and featured the letters WCF.

This patch was worn for several years until the lines decided to make the WCF feature on their uniforms permanent.

In 2017 the Detroit Lions uniform when they went through a rebranding. The lions made some colour changes to their logos and jerseys as well as changed the WCF lettering.

Instead of a patch on the front of the jersey, the William Clay Ford marking was printed onto the left sleeve of the Lions jersey.

To this day the lions continue to play with the WCF lettering on their left sleeve.

Do Other NFL Teams Wear Patches?

Though the WCF is one of the most noticed patches worn by a football team there are a large number of memorials and symbols teams wear on their uniforms.

Captain Patches

Captain patches are one of the best examples of patches on football uniforms because a large number of teams wear them in the NFL.

These patches are worn by players that have been selected to be one of several captains on their football team.

On this captain patch, there are usually stars in order to signify how many years that player has been a captain on the team.

Walter Payton Man Of The Year

Another patch that is often worn on NFL jerseys is the Walter Payton man-of-the-year patch. This is an award that is given out to players who contribute to their communities off the football field.

Players that win this award are given a patch that they can display on their jerseys. This patch is typically worn on the left breast of a player’s uniform.

George Halas Sleeve Lettering

Very similar to the WCF lettering used on the Detroit Lions jersey the Chicago bears also use lettering to commemorate their late founder George Hals.

George Halas was a co-founder of the National football league as well as one of the first inductees into its hall of fame.

Halas was the founder of the Chicago Bears and also coached their team on four separate occasions.

On the Bear’s left sleeve, there is lettering that reads GSL. This stands for George Henry Halas and is a permanent fixture on their jerseys each season.

Al Davis

Al Davis is another owner that is included on his team’s equipment. Though instead of using a patch or lettering on the jersey a small logo is painted on the helmet.

Al Davis was the owner of the Oakland Raiders for 39 years and has a permanent marking on the team’s helmet.

If you look on the back of a Las Vegas Raiders helmet you will notice a small black shield that has “AL” in the middle.

This is another on the list of NFL equipment changes that have been made to pay respect to previous owners that have passed away.

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