I have the Broncos Elite Nike Jersey bought straight from NFLShop.com, and was comparing it to the ACTUAL jerseys players wear on the field. I knew my jersey wouldn't be an exact replica of what they wear on the field, but there were quite a few differences. While at the Broncos Team Store at Mile High Stadium I was able to study a real on-field Broncos jersey. Here is what I found. I am thinking of going back to get detailed pics...
On the back:
There is an extra fabric line below the number on the back of the jersey. Below my number on the back is just the mesh material. This jersey shows an extra fabric sewn in.
http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=4592062
On The Front:
First, here is the real thing:
http://www.upi.com/News_Photos/view/dffd82730a8f60753daa8b1181ba9fd4/Broncos-Manning-Throws-Against-the-Seahawks-at-Sports-Authority-Field-at-Mile-High-in-Denver/
NUMBERS: The numbers on the front go below the water proof fabric on the front. Plus, when I was able to inspect the real on-field jersey I noticed how THIN the real letters are. They are almost paper thin, much more flexible, but also nicely stitched and attached. When you look carefully at the real on-field jersey Manning is wearing you can see how thin the numbers are against the stitching when it crosses over the bottom of the number. My jersey's numbers stop well above that line. The stitching was also totally different. There were many more stitches on my Elite jersey, but the stitches looked very different. The stitches on the "on field" jersey looked more like "x" marks.
Here is my elite jersey (on the left):
https://2img.net/h/i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o618/100Daily/FrontComparison.jpg
NECK LINE: The neck area on the on-field jersey is much longer, plus its clear they modified the QB jersey to allow him a more fluid motion on the throwing arm. Its totally different if you look carefully.
Here is my Jersey (again on the left):
https://2img.net/h/i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o618/100Daily/NeckStitchingComparison.jpg
TAGS: I was able to check out the neck tag as well, it looks like my elite but it says "2012" down the side. I thought that was cool. There was no jock tag surprisingly.
FINAL THOUGHTS: All the materials and fabric were exactly the same (besides the numbers). Obviously the "cut" of the jersey was a lot different and "tapered" to be more form fitting to an elite athlete. I also noticed later in the game that the larger players had these "notches" dug out of the back. There were several players I noticed this on:
http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/article/media_slots/photos/000/520/856/hi-res-150465530_crop_exact.jpg?w=340&h=226&q=85