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Is It Time For the Saints to Ditch or Modify Their Black Helmets?

If you watched Monday Night Football this week, you know the Saints wore their color rush fauxbacks, which they have been pairing with their black alternate helmet. The team introduced the new helmet back in 2022, and wore it twice that season. In a Week 4 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, 28-25, and again in Week 13, in which they narrowly lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 17-16.

The team wore them again last year, just one time, and that was a Week 12 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, 24-15.

And they wore them for only the fourth time ever, this past Monday. You guessed it. That ended in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, 26-13.

The Saints are now 0-4 when wearing the black helmets. Maybe it’s time they tried something different. One option would be to simply just stop wearing it. At least for the rest of the season.

After making the playoffs for four straight years (2017-20), the Saints fell to a second place finish and 9-8 record in 2021, just missing the playoffs. In 2022, they wore the black helmet twice (losing both games), and fell to 7-10. Had they won both of those games, they’d have been 9-8. The New York Giants went to the 2022-23 playoffs with nine wins.

In 2023, the Saints finished 9-8, missing the playoffs in a tie-breaker to the Packers. The Packers record was also 9-8. The Saints wore their black helmets once, and lost. Had they won that game, they’d have finished the season 10-7 and made the playoffs.

Now I’m not saying the Saints lost because they wore black hats, nor am I saying they necessarily would have won any of those four games if they were wearing their gold helmets. But, especially if you’re the superstitious type, maybe you do think that correlation does imply causation. Maybe you think they did lose because of the black hats. So…what to do.

Let’s discount the first option I listed above: simply don’t wear the helmet anymore. But if that’s not a option, then how about they tweak it, so that it looks like the black helmets they wore in the 1969 pre-season. Because let’s face it: the black helmet they introduced in 2022 just isn’t particularly good looking. The tiny fleurs de lis that attempt to make a stripe just don’t cut it. They look a little bit like a Louis Vuitton pattern.

But what about the 1969 helmet?

That is a proper looking helmet! And it would translate pretty nicely to the modern helmet (although I’m not sure that model depicted below is actually still in use) …

Now, I’d like the Saints to modify their black helmet not because the team is 0-4 while wearing it, but because it just doesn’t look good. It doesn’t necessarily need a stripe, but even so, the little fleurs de lis forming a sort-of stripe isn’t cutting it. That has to go. But in order to actually create a throwback to the 1969 preseason lids, they’d need to add the stripe. I think it looks better that way, but it’s nice to be historically correct when they’re so close already. And I’m fine with the team keeping the smaller side logo (the 1969 logo was huge) as a concession to the “vents” (more to soften blows than actually provide ventilation) that permeate today’s modern helmets.

I’d actually like the Saints to go even further. I make a proposal that the Saints fix the black helmet and more their throwbacks to “primary” status in an article I wrote earlier this week (scroll down a ways). Feel free to read that if you hadn’t already if you’re interested in that redesign idea.

But at the very least can we agree the Saints should at least modify their new black helmet to create a true throwback helmet? If you don’t agree, let’s hear why! I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

 
  
 
Comments (49)

    Definitely. I actually don’t begrudge the Saints for trying something different with an alternate, and was willing to give the bizarre center “stripe” a chance. But it hasn’t gotten better with time, and should be ditched for a more traditional design for the center stripe.

    I agree with grant here. The “stripe de lis” is an intriguing design proposition. It just doesn’t work on the field at all.

    When I cannot abide, is the Broncos doing something similar with their triangle pattern And doing it so so much worse, if that is even possible.

    Ugh the Broncos triangle stripe is truly one of the dumbest uniform elements I’ve ever seen. It’s not even gaudy and bad like the Jags two-tone helmets, or overdone like the 2000’s Falcons jerseys. Not only is it ugly up close, but it doesn’t even produce an interesting effect at a distance since it’s so hard to see.

    What’s hilarious is it was reported that Sean Payton (and Mickey Loomis) contributed to the Saints’ alternate helmet design. Maybe Denver asked him to ruin theirs as well?

    The Saints were just voted as having the “best uniforms in the league,” so expect some pushback on this piece.
    link

    I hope next month’s election is more believable than this one.

    Okay, raise your hand if you think the Saints have the best uniforms in the league.

    Put your hand down, Derek Carr’s Mother.

    You too, Alvin Kamara’s Mother.

    Yeah, Gayle Benson. We see you. Put your hand down too.

    I could kind of agree if they ditched the solid black/solid white pants. The gold pants are great with the home and away jersey. I think it’s a classic look and wish they would go back to it.

    Man, what a shame that their “best uniforms in the league” graphic includes all three players wearing the horrible, sloppy untucked undershirt.
    I get that it’s a trend and this is me being an old man yelling at clouds, but that is an *awful* look. It would be so nice if all the players wore matched socks and didn’t have a huge shirt tail sticking out of their jerseys.

    As someone who lives in SE Louisiana and has been a saints fan going back to the Dome Patrol days, the current black helmet stripe is an abomination and the 69 version is much better looking. I’m good with the white fauxback but for God’s sake please get rid of those stupid white hose. They look like a ballet troupe. The solid color uniforms often look like pajamas but the all whites look like they should be performing Swan Lake or the Nutcracker. And that goes for every team. I used to bristle at the NFL’s rules on uniforms but now I wish they’d bring them back. Maybe that’s just me getting old but I’m sick of teams looking like a Lulu Lemon ad in helmets while their shirt tails hang out like a pick up game at the park. What happened to “Professionalism”?

    If they mean the tranditional black jersey/gold pants and white jerseys with gold pants, I agree.

    If they mean anything else other than maybe the fauxbacks then 100% no. Their all black and all white looks with stripleless pants are awful.

    I absolutely agree with your take Phil! I don’t mind the black helmet alternative for the Saints as it’s a team color. The “Louis Vuitton Look” (love that connection) is really bad on an otherwise good-looking helmet. Solid stipe(s) are a must. Now, if they could just get a consistent gold across the board with all of their unis…

    I like the idea of going with the 1969 black helmet. And, that IS a helmet that they actually wore (although briefly).

    Way too many people put a lot into it, unfortunately.
    It’s why the Broncos wore white jerseys instead of orange for Super Bowl 50. It’s why the Cowboys ditched their best ever jersey for a darker blue.

    The Phillies mothballed a royal blue cap for 20 years after the players revolted following a poor record wearing them in 1994.

    Tom Brady was issued standard shoulder pads when he was at Michigan…
    and he never wore a different set until the day he retired…
    And then until the other day he retired.

    New Orleans has an excellent color scheme and the fundamentals to be the best looking team in football. The biggest problem seems to be matching shades of gold. To excel, all they have to do is copy Green Bay’s template in gold and black.

    All this superstition stuff is tiresome. My Patriots have been bad since they switched uniform designs a few years ago. Is it because of the uniforms? Of course not! It’s because they’re just a bad team. The Saints should keep the black hats and just get rid of the texture stuff. Nothing to do with any goofy superstitions; just because the current design is ugly.

    I agree, teams gotta stop being so superstitious, if you’re truly a great team you’ll win. Lions are doing the same crap going with monochromes over their great classic uniform combinations due to superstitions.

    “Stripe de lis” is a great term. It’s a ripoff of the Seahawks’ stripe and now the Bronocs have the “Stripe de Doritos” as well. Ditch that garbage and use some regular stripes.

    The Jaguars don’t need helmet stripes, and the Panthers and Ravens stripes are fine. The Titans do need to fix their helmet, but that’s more of a color thing than a stripe thing.

    It’s a bad helmet and unnecessary. But if you’re going to wear it, at least stripe it correctly or not at all.

    I agree with just going with a normal stripe on the black helmet.
    I think that black helmet looks especially good with there color rush uniform.
    While they’re at it, they need to go back to old gold instead of vegas gold…

    I agree with changing the helmet for the alternate set, but they shouldn’t change the primary uniforms. I’m generally of the opinion that if a team finally wins a super bowl with a uniform set they should stick with it (as long as they’re somewhat good-looking). The Saints look good in their current set and they’ve had more success with them than any others in their history. No reason to change now

    The Saints used to have my favorite uniforms when the wore gold pants, with either their black or white jerseys. The black pants are awful, especially when wearing black jerseys. Then when they introduced this white “color rush”, it was fantastic. I know teams want alternate helmets, but they should just stick to gold. But I agree, this black one shown here would be a big improvement.

    Aside from the Bengals white helmet, all of the other non-throwback alternate helmets are just bad and unnecessary. And the Bengals helmet is only good because they designed their white uniforms to match it, rather than match their standard orange helmet. It is sort of good only in context of their white uniforms clashing with their orange helmet, not because it is good in of itself.

    Go back to the old gold color and make all the shades of gold match on the uniform. For a black helmet it might be kind of cool to do an old school with numbers on the side maybe? Maybe have a white, black, and gold facemask? Think that could look pretty cool.

    Ditch them. The black helmets bring nothing to the table. BFBS. Or maybe AHFAHS (Alt Helmet…)

    I want every team to wear black alternates at home and white alternates on the road

    Individuality is obviously not something our society is interested in, so lets just go all the way in

    No logos. Just black helmet with a white stripe at home and invert it on the road

    Team name? Pointless. Just go by city

    NFL in 50 years.

    Im confused. No CFL team has ever had anything remotely similar to the bengals helmet.
    Did you mean another league?
    Or was it just a generic creatively bankrupt attempt at snark?

    I like the black helmet, I’m not really opposed to the tiny fleur-de-lis in the center it is kinda odd but I don’t mind it. I do like the idea of a black helmet with a center stripe though too, there is only 1 thing I don’t like about them ànd thats when they pair it with our color rush uniforms. The color rush unis are so freaking clean that it clashes so bad with it in my opinion. If they went with a white version of the helmet with a center stripe or fleur-de-lis stripe it would be much better, even the gold helmet looks better with them too but idk.

    You’re so right about the (Swap meet) Louis Vuitton stripe pattern. If they got rid of that it would be a fine helmet. Or the 1969 version would be good too.

    Or how about they modify it and reverse the colors and stripes exactly from the gold helmet? Black shell, gold current double outlined logo, and then gold/white/gold stripes?

    As a Saints fan, I hate the current black helmet, as well as the over-outlined modern fleur-de-lis. Put the 1969 stripes on the black helmets and get rid of the unnecessary outlines on both the black helmet fleur-de-lis and the primary helmet fleur-de-lis.

    And while we’re at it, go back to the original shade of gold.

    Gold helmets. Black jersey at home. White on the road. Gold pants. Striped socks. This ain’t hard.

    If the Saints insist on having a black helmet, I wish they would ditch the one they’re wearing and adopt their old black helmet which is a thing of beauty to these eyes anyway.

    Saints uniforms need an overhaul they’re so bad and bland. Get away from the monochrome setups and get back to wearing gold pants full time. I’d use their throwbacks as a template and just add gold pants to them.

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