With the help of my esteemed sports enthusiast colleague Dan, I have compiled a list of the 32 current NFL helmets. We judged them by their uniqueness, incorporation of team color scheme, how they match with the rest of the uniform, stripe usage, and overall look. We included only current helmets, which eliminated the possibility of the white Bills helmets and all of the former Patriots helmets, which were all better than the current ones. We also found an interesting site, which gives a history of all NFL helmets: http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/. Without further ado, here is the list:
32. Seattle Seahawks. Logo way too big, monochromatic helmet-logo scheme looks awful. No redeeming qualities.
31. Baltimore Ravens. Their logo really hurts them, as they had the chance to have a scary, gothic raven and instead went with a cartoony raven head with a B on its neck.
30. Jacksonville Jaguars. They missed a perfect opportunity to pull off the white helmet and instead went with the boring black helmet. The logo is one of the worst in the NFL.
29. Cleveland Browns. Normally I'd like the classic look of a logo-free helmet, but not in this case. This is an awful color orange, they don't have a logo on the helmet because they don't have a logo period, and if you're the Browns, why is your helmet orange?
28. Tennessee Titans. As ESPN's Greg Easterbrook says, the logo looks like a flaming thumbtack. The tapered double stripe is not becoming on them, and all of this brought together looks like a 1st grader designed the helmet.
27. Carolina Panthers. Silver helmets are hard to pull off, especially when you have an awful logo.
26. New England Patriots. I encourage you to check out their old helmets of the three point hat over the number. When can they bring those back, because the current logo on the silver helmet is really ugly.
25. Denver Broncos. Another awful logo, the color scheme is the only thing that makes this helmet so high.
24. Atlanta Falcons. Yes, the logo conveniently makes an F, but I've seen this exact same logo in high school and college. Where's the creativity?
23. San Fransisco 49ers. They made a mistake by changing the middle stripes. It used to be a white center stripe bordered by red stripes, but now they have a red-black combination. Big mistake, because it dropped you way down on this list.
22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The pewter color is good, but what's up with the logo? You can't hang a flag on a sword!
21. Buffalo Bills. Classic logo, classic look, both team colors prominently used. However, I've never understood the stripe in the middle of the bill -- is he getting speared? Does he have a different colored random appendage growing from his head?
20. Miami Dolphins. White helmets are generally a good idea, and the helmet-wearing dolphin logo is creative. One question: why is the dolphin in the logo wearing a different helmet than the actual team?
19. Houston Texans. Simple, cartoony logo is okay, but nothing special. Houston had a chance to have horns on their helmets like the Vikes or Rams, but they passed it up. Not good.
18. Detroit Lions. So-so logo, nothing really special. The helmet itself gives a feeling of indifference, which fits them well, I guess.
17. Kansas City Chiefs. Another blah helmet. Nothing good or bad to say here. It's a helmet, it's red, they wear it.
16. Oakland Raiders. Few teams wear the silver helmet well. The Raiders are one such team because of the simplicity of their uniforms and helmets. It all works well together.
15. Arizona Cardinals. The white helmet looks great in contrast to the cardinal red jerseys. The simple red logo is sweet.
14. Chicago Bears. The "C" is classic, but far short of creative. This helmet is only this high because of its sheer recognition factor. Almost anyone in the country can turn on the TV, see the Bears, Packers, or Cowboys helmet, and instantly know who's playing.
13. Pittsburgh Steelers. The logo is the steel logo, adding an element of uniqueness. This is also the only NFL helmet with the logo only on one side.
12. New York Jets. Another great white helmet. It was a good choice to go back to these classic helmets.
11. Dallas Cowboys. The star is classic, the silver helmet looks nice. An All-American helmet if I've ever see one. See notes under Chicago Bears.
10. Washington Redskins. The yellow facemask contrasts well with the red helmet. The feathers coming off the back of the otherwise circular logo looks good too.
9. New York Giants. I just can't get over how awesome the single red center stripe looks on this otherwise plain helmet. Call it a splash of excitement and a whole lot of plain, brute force. Kinda like the Giants style of play, no?
8. Green Bay Packers. The yellow helmets are great, and the "G" is classic if not exciting. See notes under Chicago Bears.
7. Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals did a great job incorporating the Bengal tiger stripes in their unis, especially the helmet. This is a great, unique, fun helmet.
6. Minnesota Vikings. The horns look great. Extra points for incorporating the yellow of their color scheme in a shadow effect around the base of the horn.
5. Philadelphia Eagles. Great job on the wings. They've been wearing some variation of the wings since 1955. It doesn't get much better than the white wings on the green helmet.
4. Indianapolis Colts. I originally saw nothing exciting about these helmets, but Dan persuaded me they are indeed exceptional. Aside from changing from white to blue facemasks in 1995, the helmet has been exactly the same since 1957. Kudos to the B'more/Indy Colts for picking the horseshoe as the logo and sticking with it and these great white helmets for so long without even tweaking it.
3. New Orleans Saints. No one could ever pull off the gold helmet like the Saints. The black fleur de lis on the gold helmet SCREAMS New Orleans. Truly a royal helmet.
2. San Diego Chargers. The lightning bolt is not incredibly unique for a team called the Chargers, but you have to admit it looks pretty cool, especially since they switched back to the white helmet in 2007. Did I mention I like white helmets?
1. St. Louis Rams. Well, the Rams at least have one thing going for them, right? The classic ram horns are nothing short of amazing, classy, and fearsome. Say what you want about their play, but these helmets are the best in the NFL. We had a hard time choosing the best between the top 5 or 6 on this list, but the Rams get the edge because they wore horns starting in 1950. Longevity and only minor tweaking of the idea gives them a slight edge over the rest.
There you have it. Feel free to disagree -- everyone's entitled to their own wrong opinion.
I have to say that I respectfully disagree. I am the exact opposite and believe there should be no white helmets in the NFL. White helmets look very "high schoolish".
ReplyDeleteAs an avid NFL and Colts fan, I have long wished that teams would switch out their white helmets.
Buffalo Bills switched to the Red / Blue, The Cowboys went to Silver, NE got rid of the yankee doodle dandy on the white and the Buccaneers dumped the gay pirate in pink and orange on white.
Regarding the Dolphins, I would say keep a white dolphin on a Teal helmet, reverse the cardinal red and white for AZ, Reverse the Green and white for the Jets, and for the Colts, reverse the blue and white. Chargers, change it back - teams ought to be moving away from pastels not back to them.
I would have to vote that although the Titans have an excellent team, theirs is the worst in the league and need an entire uniform change - as bad as NE and TB did.