Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

A few leftover knick-knacks from the Detroit Lions' new uniform unveiling Thursday night:

■Lions president Rod Wood said the team will wear at least three and hopefully all four of its new jerseys in games this fall. Color Rush jerseys are typically earmarked for Thursday night games, and the Lions will find out when the schedule is released Thursday whether they have one on their schedule. If they don't, Wood said the steel gray uniforms could be worn on Thanksgiving.

"If we don’t (have a Thursday night game), we’ll have to evaluate whether or not to use it," Wood said. "But other than the question about Color Rush, all three of the other ones for sure will be on the field."

Wood said the Lions' updated throwback uniforms won't be used only for Thanksgiving games. "If we have a big primetime game it might be a possibility," he said.

■Wood said he had no regrets about the email invitation to season ticket holders about Thursday's town hall meeting and uniform unveil, even though one enterprising fan enhanced the pictures to give a first look at the new jerseys on Twitter.

"No regrets," Wood said. "Somebody out there is smart in terms of how they can enhance things. I regret underestimating how smart some people might be, but it didn’t really give away too much, I think. And it was a nice tease. It didn’t really detract from this I don’t think."

■The "WCF" patch the Lions wore on their uniform for the past three seasons as a tribute to former owner William Clay Ford has been permanently moved to the left sleeve and printed on the uniform over blue and silver bars.

"I think it’s just honoring Mr. Ford’s 50-plus-year leadership of the organization," Wood said. "The patch was designed to commemorate his ownership the year of his passing. We kept it for the first two years, and since we were doing this redesign, that was the opportunity to take the patch off and move it into a more permanent location on the sleeve."

■Nike's Steve McClard, who took the lead redesigning the Lions uniforms, said red - the color the team wore during the 1948 season - never was in consideration for the Lions' throwback jersey.

McClard also has helped design uniforms for Michigan and Michigan State, including the Wolverines' recent re-brand and MSU's ProCombat rivalry jersey. The 46-year-old earned a fine arts degree in graphic design at Western Michigan and grew up rooting for the Billy Sims-era Lions.

■Wood said a big reason the Lions went through a complete uniform redesign was to get rid of black from their color scheme, but he insisted that wasn't about purging some of the final remnants from the Matt Millen era.

"I don’t know that it’s directly associated with him," Wood said. "I think it was introduced during his tenure. And we’re not trying to purge the past anymore than think about the future. But it’s gone and I think we’re happy that it’s gone."

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!