Amid NFL’s Increase to Helmet Limit; Which Classic Helmets Need to Come Back?
Photo Credit: New York Post & Getty Images
The National Football League recently announced that teams would be allowed to have a third helmet in their uniform rotation, available to all teams in 2025, and available to teams going through a redesign in 2024, such as the Denver Broncos and New York Jets.
The previous limit was two helmets, a change introduced in 2021, which was an increase from one which was put in place in 2011. Many fans had expressed frustrations in the past that their team wasn’t able to wear a certain throwback helmet. With the new rule being put in place, what are some throwbacks helmets that need to be back in the league?
1. Denver Broncos Royal Blue Helmet
This helmet is a staple of the Broncos franchise, a throwback to the past with John Elway leading his squad to multiple Super Bowl appearances. Denver introduced this helmet in 1967 season as just a plain blue helmet and added the team logo in 1968. This logo represented Broncos football for almost three decades when they changed to the navy helmet that is worn today.
Photo Credit: Focus on Sport/Getty Images
2. Buffalo Bills Bison Helmet
This helmet is one of the few in NFL history that have featured an animal on it. Featured for the Bills from 1962 to 1973, this helmet is simple, but a classic. It represents the Bills teams that won back-to-back NFL championships in 1964 and 1965 along with O.J. Simpson’s record setting 1973 season, where he rushed for 2,003 yards in 14 games. Buffalo did bring this helmet back from 2005 to 2010, but this new rule should allow them to bring this one back and keep it around this time.
Photo Credit: The Athletic
3. Los Angeles Chargers Navy & Bolt with Number Helmets
The Chargers started off their franchise with two great helmets in San Diego. The first was white with the yellow lightning bolt, much like today’s helmets, but these ones included the number below the bolt. A practice that isn’t common with helmets, the Chargers found the perfect way to have a logo and a number coexist on a helmet and did so from 1960 to 1973. In the 1974 season, they switched to the navy helmets with the yellow bolt, a representation of the Dan Fouts teams in the 1980s with a hint of LaDanian Tomlinson and Drew Brees in the early 2000s.
Photo Credit: Pro Football Hall of Fame
Photo Credit: Richard Stagg/Getty Images
4. New York Jets ‘Jet’ Helmet
In 1963, the New York Jets sported a helmet that is a relic lost in time. This helmet featured a white background with a green airplane that read ‘JETS’ alongside it. However, this helmet didn’t have great memories on the field, as the Jets went 5-8-1 this season, finished last in the AFL East, and never wore them again.
Photo Credit: Helmet Hut
While it’s no guarantee that any of these will be reintroduced by these teams, it’s not impossible by any means. With all teams set to have three helmets in their rotation by 2025, will teams lean towards bringing back old classics, or towards introducing new designs that no one has thought about before?
