Anybody else notice the Broncos helmets while watching the game last night (12/14/17)? The had their old D logo, but the blue color in the background was similar to the current helmet (it was a lighter blue origionally). I thought the NFL only allowed a team to use their current helmet with the color rush jerseys, and that was the reason the Bengals didn't go with the black on white helmet. Not a huge deal anyway, just curious. As it is, I think i'm over the color rush thing, and personally I prefer the retro jersey for special occasions.

The Broncos did use their current helmets, they just swapped out the new decals for the old ones and that's why the blue of the helmets was still "new Broncos" dark blue. The Bengals version of this would be taking the stripes decal off of the orange helmets and putting BENGALS on the helmets so they would look pre-1980.

The helmet stays the same, the decals change. That's why we haven't seen the Patriots/Buccaneers/Seahawks go back to their old uniforms because the helmets had a different base color.

(12-15-2017, 02:31 PM)upstateBengal Wrote: Anybody else notice the Broncos helmets while watching the game last night (12/14/17)? The had their old D logo, but the blue color in the background was similar to the current helmet (it was a lighter blue origionally). I thought the NFL only allowed a team to use their current helmet with the color rush jerseys, and that was the reason the Bengals didn't go with the black on white helmet. Not a huge deal anyway, just curious. As it is, I think i'm over the color rush thing, and personally I prefer the retro jersey for special occasions.

(12-16-2017, 05:57 PM)Nately120 Wrote: The Broncos did use their current helmets, they just swapped out the new decals for the old ones and that's why the blue of the helmets was still "new Broncos" dark blue.  The Bengals version of this would be taking the stripes decal off of the orange helmets and putting BENGALS on the helmets so they would look pre-1980.

The helmet stays the same, the decals change.  That's why we haven't seen the Patriots/Buccaneers/Seahawks go back to their old uniforms because the helmets had a different base color.

Yup, this. The Bengals' helmet is naturally orange, the stripes are the decals, so they would need to have a full-helmet decal made in order to cover up the entirety of it. The one-helmet rule is pretty stupid. Even more so considering it has ruined a couple teams from rocking far-superior throwback uniforms.


Color Rush is awful, by the way. Only like 2-3 look even decent, and the Bengals would look okay if it didn't look so half-assed due to that rule.

(12-18-2017, 07:55 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Yup, this. The Bengals' helmet is naturally orange, the stripes are the decals, so they would need to have a full-helmet decal made in order to cover up the entirety of it. The one-helmet rule is pretty stupid. Even more so considering it has ruined a couple teams from rocking far-superior throwback uniforms.


Color Rush is awful, by the way. Only like 2-3 look even decent, and the Bengals would look okay if it didn't look so half-assed due to that rule.

[b]When was the rule enacted?[/b]

The rule came to light in September of 2013, when the Buccaneers announced that their “Bucco Bruce”-era throwbacks, which they had planned to wear later that month, were being scrapped because the NFL had quietly approved a recommendation by two of the league’s advisory panels — the Head, Neck, and Spine Committee and the Player Safety Advisory Panel — that limited teams from switching helmets during the season. The Buccaneers’ normal helmets are pewter and the throwback helmets were white, so wearing the throwback uniforms would have necessitated a new set of helmets. Teams had routinely used new helmet sets for throwback games in the past, but it was no longer possible under the new rule.





What is the thinking behind the rule?

The idea is to limit the number of helmets that players wear during a season, because new helmets can be unsafe if they’re worn fresh out of the box, without a lengthy “break-in” period.


Wouldn’t a new helmet actually be safer than an old one that’s gotten banged up over the course of eight or nine games?
That does seem somewhat logical, or at least intuitive. But those two advisory committees believe it’s safer, on balance, for a player to stick with one helmet for the entire season.