taking it back to how it all began ⚪️ pic.twitter.com/XPiFCHGdND
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) July 18, 2023
The Browns this morning, as expected, unveiled a new white alternate helmet. It will be worn with the same 1946 throwback uniform that the team wore in 2021. The team’s unveiling video is shown above, and here are some photos of the new design:
That uni combo will be worn three times this season:
- Sept. 18 (a Monday night), on the road against the Steelers. (Very unusual for a team to debut a new uni element on the road!)
- Oct. 15, at home against the 49ers.
- Dec. 28 (a Thursday night), at home against the Jets.
When the Browns wore the 1946 throwback in 2021, they had to wear an orange helmet because of the NFL’s one-shell rule (additional game photos here):
The one-shell rule was lifted last year, paving the way for the more historically accurate shell color. The original white helmets, however, did not have the center striping that the new helmet has:
Overall: I like this look, and of course I like the nod to the team’s history. I think a single brown or orange stripe might’ve looked better than the wide striping, but I can live with it.
That’s a great look.
…for a team named “The Tigers”
Massilon Tigers
I haven’t been a fan of most of the alternate helmets. But, this one works. Overall I give it an “A”. They can’t do it because of the rules. But, wonder what the white helmet would look like with the brown jerseys and white pants?
Disappointed (from an historical perspective) that the helmet isn’t solid white.
Very pleased (from an aesthetic perspective) that the helmet isn’t solid white.
These will work fine, even if the uni is a fauxback instead of a throwback
Agreed!
And I’m pleased that they’re wearing this against a fellow AAFC team (the 49ers). I was afraid they were going to against Seattle or Houston.
AAFC Bowl, 49ers need to get some red helmets for that game.
My feelings exactly!
Get the helmet and pants stripes in sync and you have a flawless design.
Yes, that’s the only flaw.
Good design but…I got a feeling that the stripes matched and the face mask was white until some Nike exec said “no no no, we are Nike, we have to screw up something here, our reputation is at stake”
Well instead they match the sleeves… They went to brown-orange-brown pants stripes in the early aughts to match the jersey stripe, but I prefer the mismatch.
I also noticed that.
Yeah, I think the problem is the pants stripe are historically accurate, even though they don’t match the jersey or socks. And since there was no stripe in the helmet historically, they went brown/orange/brown, which looks better, instead of matching the pants.
I guess I can tolerate it as quirk in the uniform knowing the pants stripes not matching has some historical context to it.
A-… Because why not have the stripe be orange-brown-orange and match the pants stripe?
Why not also then change the jersey steps to start with orange? There’s always been mismatch in the Browns striping, except for a short time in the early aughts when they changed the pants to brown-orange-brown. That’s okay. Why does it need to match?
Uniform OCD. Some of us have had it as far back as 1978. And quite simply… it would look better. The helmet is entirely new. Why should the rest of it be historically accurate? I think that’s a better question.
It matches the mismatch in their regular set, which they’ve always had (except for 1984 when they bungled a new uniform rollout and lost the triple stripes and immediately rolled it back the next season because fans hated it) and 2003-2005 when they inexplicably switched that stripe to the one you’re advocating for and then quietly went back to orange/brown/orange. The 2015-19 set didn’t happen, I think we can all agree.
looks like oregon state
It screams Oklahoma State Cowboys but is a very sharp, well-composed look.
Typo for the third game, unless you’re implying that the New York (AFC) Football Club is rebranding to a ballet look.
Paul, didn’t the NFL rule prescribe that if the helmet is matched with a throwback uniform it should be an historically accurate reproduction of the original one (i.e. no stripes)?
Thanks
To my knowledge, the rule just states that an alternate helmet must be paired with an alternate uniform.
That would be ideal, but I know of no such “rule.”
You’d think teams would want the helmet to be historically correct (otherwise you have a fauxback and not a throwback), but I don’t believe there is any actual requirement to be so.
Here, my memory serves me wekl
link?
Hmmm.
It would appear the Browns are not following that dictum to a “T” — but I also wonder if there is some built-in flexibility: the shell is white (which is historically accurate) so does that mean it would have to be stripeless? Also, the uniform itself (because of the orange helmet) was never a true “throwback” (it was an amalgam of years), so perhaps the league considers it an “alternate” rather than a “classic”.
Good find!
So often uniforms are not made to look good. Why quibble when they do? Strips on helmet
think they would like for that rule to apply to historically accurate throwbacks but the browns on is more fauxback because its a bit different than the original 40s-50s era unis
The jersey is also not an accurate throwback because the numbers have the orange block shadow which the 1946 originals did not. Also, they have added the 1946 patch on the jerseys, which the originals obviously didn’t have. Not sure why they have that patch. Other teams’ throwbacks don’t include a patch to tell you what year they are from.
Actually, the 1946 uniforms did have the drop shadow:
link
The shadow was eliminated in 1947, but the white helmet was still used for several years: link
Okay, so the old photo you included above must have not been from 1946 then, because there is no block shadow to be seen.
The fact that the pants and helmet stripes do not match drives me nuts.
That’s funny. I think it would be better if they matched, but I don’t think it’s bad, given that they are together in each spot (helmet, sleeves and pants). As opposed to the Auburn uniforms. The helmets and sleeves have the same style (the stripes have space between them), but the pant stripes have no white space in between. That has always bugged me, and although I believe the look is traditional, I think that one little change would make their look perfect.
Exactly, just like University of Miami. It’s staring you right in the face. And it’s not like the design is some kind of “sacred” unchanged uniform for decades and decades.
The helmet stripe matches the jersey stripe this way. From a front view, it’s consistently brown on the outside of the pattern. It’s the pants that are out of sync, really. But that’s okay!
Great looking uniforms.
I can’t make out the drop shadow numbers in the 1946 pictures though.
I didn’t think I’d like it, but I love the white shell with the throwback
Great-looking helmet. A+
Going to be great looking games against Steelers and Niners.
Proof that Nike should never have new creative authority when it comes to uniforms. Stick to the historical and make fun tweaks. This looks awesome. Please no more reinventing the wheel for God sakes.
It is not historically accurate, but I wish the Browns’ trouser stripe were brown/orange/brown. There’s something aesthetically pleasing about a warm color outlined by two darker colors.
Could we say the new helmet was inspired by the 1978-89 BC Lions helmet during their orange and brown era? Same look.
link
link
Since this isn’t a true throwback, with the helmet stripping, why not just call it an alternate uniform? Similar to the Cardinals black helmet with black uniforms. I’m a fan of the all white look. As a USC Trojan alum, I’ve been against them going with an alternate uniform, with the usual suggestion being BFBS. However, if they are going to do it, an all white uniform, with white helmet, would be a good look.
Some may deem this as heresy, but… would this have been an ideal situation for them to slap a logo on a helmet?
Heresy, indeed!
The orange helmet logo on the white helmet?
Now that’s funny!
Yes
i wouldn’t have minded them putting numbers on them like they did with the orange helmet they wore with the alternates a few years ago
Good call on the single helmet stripe Paul.
I am happy the Bengals created their white helmet before the Browns did.
They finally followed us, lol.
Hope everyone is doing well and having a great day today.
i agree with you Jason and Paul on thin brown stripe.
One big flaw in this design:
The stripes should be orange-brown-orange to match the pants stripes.
Lack of attention to detail. Major disappointment.
The Browns stripes have historically not matched.
True, but that mismatch comes from the evolution of the orange helmet from solid orange, to having one white stripe, to the current brown-white brown stripes. I wouldn’t re-do the stripes on the orange helmet for coordination sake because it just wouldn’t look like the Browns. However, since this is a brand-new white helmet created by design geniuses, they could have matched the helmet stripes with the pants stripes rather than create another mismatch — one that’s easily noticed.
The point of the stripes already being mismatch regards the jersey pants. The helmet stripe matches the jersey and sock stripes. No way to make them all match without changing the jersey or pants stripes too.
It’s a nice, clean look, though I think the 1946 patch is a tad much. It’s also appropriate that one of the games is up against their fellow AAFC survivor, the 49ers. It’ll be interesting to see if the Niners opt to wear their red throwbacks for this game too.
I like the patch design, but not the placement – I’d rather it be used like a hip number instead of cluttering up the jersey. No way it was going on the helmet (which might not look too bad(?), but would be totally wrong!).
And it should say 1999. Kidding!
Would love to see SF wear their red alts…there’s been no movement on the Niners getting a red helmet?
Total nebbish nitpick here, but it irks me when people refer to the AAFC as the “All-American Football Conference.” It was, of course, “All-America,” not “All-American.” But when a former AAFC team does it, oy.
And any throwback is ruined by the t-skirt nonsense that the modern player seems to insist on. You look ridiculous and sloppy.
Agreed about the untucked jerseys. I thought the whole point of making the jerseys tighter and more form-fitting was to have less to grab on to, but then you’ve got the whole waistline hanging (relatively) loose!
“T-skirt”! Please add this to the Uni-Watch glossary please. I love it!
The drop-shadow is an aesthetic nightmare, historically accuracy aside. I’d go as far as to say that, if drop-shadow is historically accurate, then throwback to some other uniform. It’s just an abomination.
The Browns are using block shadows on these uniforms, not drop shadows.
Any less hideous? No. No matter what you call it, it looks like absolute shit.
It’s not ideal, but still, we should call the shadow by its proper name, which is BLOCK.
Typo – “Jetes” instead of Jets in the third bullet point.
Thanks. Fixed.
I’m making a prediction. For at least one of the games these unis are worn, the helmets will be stripe-free.
with gray facemasks?
Not a great look for Dude Wipes if they can’t get rid of brown streaks.
COTD.
Love the look – hate the mismatching helmet/pants. If you squint just right, it’s almost as if the NFL had accepted the Memphis Southmen/Grizzlies’ application to join the league in ’76. I always wondered how they’d have done against the Steelers…
It’s wild how many people here don’t seem to realize that the Browns historically have not had matching helmet/pants stripes.
I’m very well aware of that, as are most folks here. This helmet sports a newly designed stripe pattern that has no basis in “history”, which is why I think people are bothered by it. Why not make it match the historical pant stripe? Or just leave it off?
It matches the jersey stripe.
These are exactly what I was hoping for! Greta look!
The Vikings just released their new throwbacks and as beautiful as the jersey and pants are, they absolutely ruined it with the helmet. Instead of bringing back the darker-than-the-jersey shade of purple glossy helmets, they simply slapped a gray facemask on their current matte helmets.
Absolutely ruins what would be a perfect throwback. Imagine if the Giants throwbacks had their current helmet. Or the Rams threw back with their current helmet. Yuck
Yep…
Satin Purple People Eaters
Intimidating…
Someone in the planning department must be a Uni-Watcher and cares about looking good on Monday night against the Steelers under the lights. That’s gonna be a fantastic looking game.
Like the look but as stated by others the 1946 patch is not needed and an all white helmet would have been perfect instead of this nice one.
Yea, there are some stripes inconsistencies but boy oh boy, that’s a gorgeous uniform. In a day and age where the “icy” white uniform is almost as played out as BFBS, the helmet, sleeve, pants and socks stripes just make this uniform pop. Well done Browns.
These are clean
Getting a preview of how sloppy it’ll look on the field; undershirts hanging out, socks near the calves, mismatched socks, gloves with makers marks plastered all over them… yuck.
So are teams able to have 3 helmets? I’m guessing not so were the Eagles black helmets one season and done ? Makes me wonder what the point was then, fans aren’t buying alternate helmets.
“are teams able to have 3 helmets”
No. And this was something we pondered when the Iggles introduced the black hat last season — we knew they were going to introduce a kelly green helmet (they just hadn’t gotten approval for their throwbacks in time, or something along those lines … but we knew they were coming). So why do a one year black lid?
(Answer: Because they can)
Why on earth they’d do that an not just wait a year for the kelly green is beyond me.
I figured that the Eagles did the black helmets as a “One-and-done” becauseJeff Lurie was one of the owners pushing for the league to rescind the one helmet rule. And it would be a huge public screw-up for them to not have had one last year. They (and Nike) screwed up by no having the kelly green ready for 2022 so we got the black helmets instead.
Cleveland State?
Pro teams should be innovative with their uniform designs, not conform to tradition. The amateur levels always follow. We’re going backwards here. Jets new uniforms I actually liked. Sans the BFBS. Put a logo on the helmet already, Browns.
I feel aesthetically the Browns have it right with the brown/orange/brown helmet stripe and brown facemask. That order reflect the same outer brown/inner orange pattern as the jersey and sock stripes. Within that you have the outer orange/inner brown of the pants *and* the numbers. They could have gone with the helmet matching the numbers and pants instead, but because the main helmet has brown/white/brown stripes it makes it more of a cohesive set to echo that on the white helmet with brown/orange/brown. I can see why from an OCD angle it bothers people, but that kind of thing is rife in uniform design in all sports!
I think these will look amazing on the field, especially against the Steelers.
Browns should go with all-white. No stripes, no numbers and alternate between a masking tape list of failed Browns qbs and a list of Watson’s alleged victims..
everyone suggesting the stripes match the jersey are incorrect. obviously the pants are o/b/o; the jersey is a 5 stripe design with the center stripe being b outlined by o and then another b stripe on the outer edges. Basically a o/b/o design. The numbers are brown with orange outline or block drop whatever you want to call it. So, the dominant color is brown with orange outline and the helmet stripe should have followed suit for a perfect A+ uni. I still give it an A- as a result and it is a great alternate. Would love to see Brownie Elf on the helmet as a logo but…