Bills Unveil New Throwbacks…BLD Lists best and worst helmets

Tim Redinger is the lead blogger for Buffalowdown.  Sign up for the BLD RSS Feed or follow us on Twitter.

The Buffalo Bills took a huge step in the right direction with the release of their away throwback jersey to celebrate their 50th Anniversary.  I say it is a step in the right direction because it is at least two more games where we don’t have to see the hideous uniforms they wear now.

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I figured now would be a good time to take a look at the helmets of the NFL going back through history and list the best and worst of all time.  I was able to find seven in both the bad and the good, and here they are in no particular order:

THE BAD

Buffalo Bills 2002-Present

I figured, why not start right at home and call the Bills out.  The charging Buffalo is not so bad, but that dumbass red stripe coming out of the head is, well stupid is as stupid does.

New England Patriots 1960 Preseason

Some team logos are dumb pictures, but using a hat as your picture is well, a little to simplistic for even, even though the simple helmets are my favorite.  The addition to the players number under the patriot hat for the regular season was not enough to bring this helmet out of the gutter.

NY Jets 1963

Thankfully, the NY Jets only wore this disaster for one season.  While I get the overall concept, they did a horrible job making the logo look like a plane – Looks more like an elongated dolphin with big fins if you ask me.

Oakland Raiders 1964-Present

I do like the silver and black color scheme here, but the teams logo looks like something out of Broke Back Mountain as opposed to the Seven Seas.

Philadelphia Eagles 2007

The Eagles wore these helmets with matching uniforms as a tribute to the Eagles of 1933.  There was a reason why these uniforms were retired, and it probably had something to do with the advent of color television.

Pittsburgh Steelers, select games

I love the concept of the Steelers helmets.  Logo on one side, blank on the other.  With the black helmets, the logo stands out perfectly, the yellow helmets are just a little too much yellow for the logo.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1976-1996

For the same reason the Oakland Raiders made the list, so do the historic and original helmets of Tampa Bay.  Looking for swashbuckling, and they ended up with the inspiration for Zorro, the Gay Blade.

The Good

Atlanta Falcons 2003-Present

In my opinion, there is way to much black and red in professional sports.  If I ever got around to winning one of those commissioner for a day contests, I would ban black and red jerseys/helmets, except for the Falcons.  Its simple, and it stands out.

Bffalo Bills 1962-1964

Another classic and simple design that the Buffalo Bills should have never abandoned.  The standing Buffalo epitomizes more of how the team was named than the current logo.

Cleveland Browns 1961-1974

Are you catching on to the pattern here?  It’s simple, yet complex.  It says, this is who we are, yet asks, who are we?

Houston Texans

There is no better color scheme in an NFL uniform than Red, White, and Blue.   Maybe because the NFL is a sport that is truly only played successfully in the United States.  The Texans got it right the first time, the colors and the logo.

San Diego Chargers 1988-2006

The Chargers have had pretty much the same logos since they started in the league.  This is one of their designs that stuck out to me – and is probably their best try at a lightening bolt.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1997-Present

If the Houston Texans got it right the first time, Tampa Bay got it right the second time.  The right mix of colors and thankfully they killed the Gay Blade on their original logo, and kept his skull.

Washington Redskins 1959-1969

Back to basics again for our final entry, as much as I hate the Washington Redskins, this simple Red, Yellow and White design is one of, if not my favorite helmet from the NFL, modern or historic.

For a good look at a pretty good history of the NFL through the Helmets of every team, as well as other leagues, check out the Helmet Project.