!
I actually replied to this when it first started, but after I wrote the post my stupid PC froze up and I lost the whole thing, so I got pissed and never came back to it. But now we've been kinda talking about this in another thread, so I thought I'd come back and do it again.
All mine are replicas:
The first one I had was a 1995 style blue/home Bledsoe. Got it at a clearance sale (ironically at a store owned by Brian Noble, a former Packer). Wore that thing a LOT. Finally had to retire it so it didn't get too beat up. That style of jersey is still my favorite - I loved the Flying Elvis being on the shoulders.
Second was a late '90s style white/away Dave Meggett that I got at a going-out-of-business sale for $10. Literally two days later Meggett was arrested for that "giving money to a friend for sex but it wasn't prostitution" thing so I never have wore it except to just try it on a couple times. I still think those jerseys look sharp.
Next was an Andy Katzenmoyer that I bought at ANOTHER clearance sale at Brian Noble's store in 2000 (not too long after that they closed the store down). Bought this one mainly because at first I said I wouldn't buy any of the "new" jerseys because I thought it was just Kraft's way of conning the fans into paying for the new stadium; but then decided that I should get at least one. Actually I'm glad I did now because they had a different shade of blue in 2000 (the first year of those new ones). But again, this was another case of me buying a jersey and then the player leaving the Pats within a year or two.
Fourth was a home/blue Bledsoe I bought in the summer of 2001 at the Mall of America in Minnesota. Decided it was time to quit being stubborn, and like I said above, the old one was starting to wear out.
Fifth was ANOTHER Bledsoe, this one a white/away that my mom got me from a sports catalog's clearance sale for Christmas '01. It's "street cut" so it wears a little more like a tee shirt. Have a picture of my bro and me from that night, he wearing his Favre jersey and me in my Bledsoe... even though by that point Brady had replaced Bledsoe. This is currently the only white/away I have in the current style; I haven't decided if I should get a personalized or buy a Troy Brown away. (The last couple years they haven't had them in my size at the Pro Shop when I've been there.
)
Sixth was my "FOREVER" personalized blue/home (with the number 1) that I mainly wear now. This jersey will always have a special meaning to me because my mom ordered it for me as a birthday present in 2003; shortly before my birthday that year was when we learned her cancer had come back.
I've worn this one to every game but one since then.
Seventh was a silver/alternate Brady I bought when we were in Foxboro for the Pats/Chargers game on our honeymoon in '05. Total impulse buy. I wore it to the game because the team wore the silvers that day.
Eighth was a Flutie "throwback" I bought impulsively the day of the aforementioned Pats/Chargers game. Just for the hell of it.
Finally, the newest one I have is a John Hannah "Classics" throwback. You may recall in an earlier thread I wanted a Gino but the Pro Shop screwed up my order. I'm still planning on buying a Gino, along with a Tippett and a Grogan.
My wife has a Vinatieri home/blue she bought on impulse the day of our first game in Foxboro in 2004. We were walking around the stadium before the gates opened and we came across the player parking lot and entrance. We saw Larry Izzo and I was like "WOW!!!"
And then Adam was going in and me and her both yelled, "HEY ADAM!" and he waved to us! So she went and bought one of his jerseys in the Pro Shop just because he waved to us.
She doesn't plan on buying another jersey (because, just like me, she doesn't want to buy any more and then have the player be gone two years later, if not sooner.) What she doesn't know is before we go to this year's game I'm going to order her a personalized one. I just have to decide what to put on it - "MRS FOREVER" is too long, but if I put "MRS 4EVER" people might think it's for Vinatieri. Plus I have to decide what number she gets - should I make hers "1" like mine, or "2" so together we make "12"? Decisions, decisons...