The team’s first “Winter Warning” game also calls for fans to wear white
The tradition bound Green Bay Packers, whose home and road uniforms have changed very little since the late 1950s, will debut their new white helmet this Sunday when they meet the Houston Texans at Lambeau Field. The team will pair the new helmet with their regular road jerseys and alternate white pants.
With high temperatures forecast to reach the low 70°s, there should be nary a sign of winter at kickoff. Perhaps a bit of autumn chill later in the day will have to suffice. The team has requested the 80,000+ expected to attend to wear white. Whether or not they’ll achieve the Penn State look remains to be seen.
When the NFL lifted the “one shell” rule for 2022, fans of throwbacks rejoiced, but since the second (alternate) helmet applied to all alternate uniforms, we cautioned at the time, “be careful what you wish for.” This is one of those times.
And the Packers weren’t the first NFL team to add a white alternate shell. More and more teams are jumping on the alternate white helmet bandwagon (in just the past couple years, we have seen the Bengals, Broncos, Browns, Vikings and Jaguars all introduce white alternate lids).
For decades, the Packers uniforms were some of the NFL’s best. For the most part, they stuck to gold/green/gold at home and gold/white/gold on the road. When the NFL introduced the “color rush” programs, the Packers were one of the teams that pretty much said, “we’re good,” refusing to create a new CR uniform. Their single concession was to introduce white pants in 2016, which they also wore in 2017, 2018 and 2019. After skipping two seasons, the white pants returned in 2022, but have not been worn since.
While that uniform wasn’t quite as “Packer-like” as their traditional road uniform, they still looked like the Packers. And the white pants looked ok with the gold helmet and white jersey. Even though the striping on the Packers jersey and pants is slightly different (there are two very thin white stripes separating the green and gold stripes on the jersey, while the pants striping is simply green/gold/green), they still work well together. But the key is the green AND gold both being used. For some inexplicable reason, the Packers new white helmet has no gold at all.
The team, to my knowledge, has not explained why the white helmet has a green/white/green striping pattern (rather than green/gold/green, as would match the jersey and pants). But here’s how they did describe the new hat:
The brand-new helmets include a solid white face mask and a white shell, with the traditional dark green Packers G logo on the sides and dark green stripes down the middle. The white helmets will be paired with the fan-favorite combination of the team’s white away jerseys, white pants and solid white socks.
And as mentioned, the team will try a very NCAA-like “white out” for Lambeau.
To help create a blizzard-like effect in the stadium in honor of Packers fans’ legendary energy during even the harshest of winter conditions, the team is asking game attendees to join in the Winter Warning by wearing white attire for the Oct. 20 game against Houston.
You may be aware that this is actually not the first white helmet the team will wear, so there is some historical precedent for the Packers wearing white helmets: they first wore them in 1956, and for two more seasons (1957 and 1958), after which they returned to wearing their classic gold helmets.
But this uniform isn’t a throwback to the late 1950s. And I wasn’t aware that the “team’s white away jerseys, white pants and solid white socks” were a “fan-favorite.” (Perhaps some Packer fans or Wisconsin residents can confirm or rebut this assertion.)
Also, also: while the NFL hasn’t been consistent with their “alternate shell” rules (teams are supposed to pair them only with an alternate jersey), this seems to be another time the NFL will look the other way. The Bengals and, prior to this sesaon the Panthers, both have worn alternate helmets with “primary” jerseys.
But the biggest disappointment with this new combination isn’t the white helmet, per se. It’s the striping. Having a green/white/green pattern while the jersey and pants feature green/gold/green just looks off. It wouldn’t be the first time a team wore a helmet that didn’t feature a color found on the jerseys and pants. The Rams were panned for doing that, but they were in the process of transitioning to new uniforms in preparation of their new stadium opening. And the Chiefs have been wearing that helmet for decades.
I’ll need to see these uniforms on the field to render a full opinion, but so far I’m not liking what I see. The Packers don’t need a white helmet (their current helmet is one of the best in the NFL), but if they have to have one, the least they could do is have the helmet striping “match” the pants (and be close to the jersey). Keeping the striping as it is on the gold helmet would still immediately identify the bucket as a Packers helmet. This new one looks like they’re channeling the New York Jets old hats (not necessarily something a team should strive for).
The Packers opponent, as mentioned, will be the Texans. Houston will be wearing their dark navy helmets and jerseys, but haven’t yet declared which pants they’ll pair with those. So far, they’ve yet to pair those with dark navy pants, but it is a possibility. If that’s the case, the Pack might be looking at the bad side of the Five and One.
What are your thoughts on the Packers new white helmets and decision to have a “Winter Warning” whiteout for the fans? Good fun idea or too “college-y”? Should the new helmets have had a gold center stripe?
I’d love to hear what you think about this.
I almost wonder who said “we need to have an alt helmet this year,” to the Packers. Im pretty sure that all the decals are exactly the same as they are on the yellow helmet (thus the lack of yellow), which to me sounds like one person said that they were doing a second helmet, with some other person saying, “well we’re not ordering any special decals for em”
This is a good summary, but you left out the part where the intern who came up with this idea suggested removing the yellow from from the uniforms completely.
As someone pointed out on another post recently, blaming “the intern” isn’t funny or accurate.
Stop blaming the intern and start blaming the idiot.
Whereas interns typically make very little in financial compensation, it was probably some jackass making six figures who came up with this brilliant idea.
Fan favorite? Oh, yes…let’s look like everyone else wearing stormtrooper gear with leotards. Just me, but that look can go away at anytime. Especially with a helmet that lacks one of their primary colors. I don’t understand the draw behind this look, even if it’s mono-color. Then again, I’m old so trends pass me by like a fart in the wind.
If you took a basic white Jets’ uniform and added yellow outlines to every green object, you’d have a good-looking uniform… But not a good Packers uniform.
WHFWHS.
I’d expect better from the Packers.
It will end up that each team will have an all white uniform playing a team with an all black uniform.
It seems that way. That’s why Chris Diamond’s new “Blackouts vs. Icy Whites” series is eerily prescient.
Predicted this for years. Players like to look like living chess pieces. It starts in high school, creeps into college and now the NFL is infected with this aesthetic.
I wanted to call this the “White Cheddar” look, but based on the close-up, vanilla bean is more appropriate (Link: link)
Are they going to be selling “white cheeseheads” in the pro shop for fans to wear???????
As a Packers fan and Wisconsin resident, nobody asked for these, very few like them, and those who do admit it would be better if the striping were consistent. Sad to see a franchise like Green Bay stoop this low.
The worst part is, it looks like they’re playing catch-up to the Vikings by releasing an all-white look the same season as them. (On a related note, our alternate classics look like a response to the Vikes’ color rush set, even if they’re technically a throwback.)
Great point
egggggg-zactly.
I could have been sold on a green helmet before this. Just seems like they are doing it just to be doing it.
Green helmet would have been cool, but if they did that people would be upset as well. Team’s with classic looks seem to be untouchable for most people, and I understand that to a bit, but I actually like the all white look, always better to see how it looks on the field than in just these photos the team release.
The mismatched striping looks super ugly and screams lazy. Just like when they used to leave the green facemasks on for the navy throwbacks.
Also, whoever decided that a “winter whiteout” in October was a good idea is a moron.
true hah, going to be 70s on Sunday in GB
All about getting Pack fans to buy tons of new white merch. Saw Iowa State do that a couple of weeks ago. Blatant money grab.
Looks disjointed, like the short period when the Rams moved back to LA and changed their helmet to blue and white but still incorporated yellow into their jersey and pants.
Western Wisconsin native/resident here — and a Vikings fan but, growing up here, I have developed a healthy respect for the Packers organization, even if they are my fave team’s arch-rival. So, having said that — I’m very much not a fan of this look. I mean, all things considered, it’s not the biggest misfire, but…for one, like noted above, it seems like they’re copying what the Vikings did (even if it was probably in the pipeline before the Vikes publicly announced the Winter Whiteout). Second, for a team that strongly embraces history, this is such a jump on a fad bandwagon. Yes, the team should balance traditional and new, but this seems “un-Packer-like” to be like “Hey, let’s go all-white ’cause everyone else is doing it right now.” It’s gonna look real dated in 15 years.
But, most importantly to me, anyway: October 20th? Winter Warning THEN? Yes, it does snow around here that time of year (not frequently, but we’ve had a few mid/late-October snowfalls in Wisconsin in my life. But, you can also get some warm stretches, and, as I wondered would happen when this was first announced: it’s gonna be a warm, sunny late-summer/early-fall-like day for the “Winter Warning.” *face palm* They couldn’t do this in November or December or January, at least?
Now, as for what other Wisconsinites (most of whom, unlike me, actually are Packers fans :-) )? I would not dare speak for them. I know of some who pretty much share my take, and some who love the look, and in-between.
this bullshit needs to stay in the NCAA.
Iconic looks are now being f**cked with…screw tradition
Helmet could be good if the striping matched. Now it’s just so hideous imo. It just bothers you cause it’s such an easy fix. Also, I really like alternates/uniform options. I am also on the contrast socks train too. These with some green and yellow striped socks or just green with yellow. I’ve seen some on madden that are green
* green with some yellow that would look good with these
The “winter whiteout” idea is so cringey and eye-roll inducing. That’s something that should be reserved for colleges. Now going back to the 2016-19 white unis, I think they would have looked better with the green jersey. I don’t know why they never tried that.
It’s an embarrassment. The NFL used to have an air of professionalism that contrasted with the NCAA’s amateurism. Nothing wrong with the latter, by the way, but I appreciated that the two levels of competition had its own styles. Stricter rules on how the uniform is worn, no alternate helmets, limited alternate jerseys, strict uniform number requirements for position groups, mandatory TV numbers — not to mention the teams whose looks go unchanged for decades. Now the lines between the two have really blurred. The alternate helmet for alternate helmet’s sake wave that is sweeping the NFL is similar to what college football went through in the early 2010s.
The answer to a question that nobody asked.
As a shareholder I apologize on behalf of the team for this attack on basic decency.
The helmet would look better with a yellow stripe in the middle
I agree there should be a yellow stripe but if you notice, it’s the exact same decal pack for both the yellow and white helmet.
The popular winter whiteout in mid autumn, until waiting till late December!!
I don’t get the obsession with using a single color aside from white with this kind of uniform. With some yellow besides the green, these might work. It’s like Carolina’s black helmets. Give the Panther white teeth and silver/white eyes, and it would look pretty cool.
Another Packer fan here, and I’m not a fan of this look. And it’s tough to say that it’s a merch grab since the jersey isn’t any different than the regular away jerseys. I thought I read somewhere that Jordan Love had input on the design, and if that’s the case, fine. Keep the players happy by doing something they’re interested in. But I don’t think this is something that the fan base will be too excited about.
Speaking of merch grabs, they already do sell a gold jersey with green numbers, which hasn’t ever been worn on the field (to my knowledge). Back in the color rush era, I would’ve been interested to see how that actually looked on the field way more than the all-white look that they went with.
Let’s see gold over gold for the ultimate “cheese” look
Actually, let the players concentrate on football and stop worrying about uniforms.
I would think the $220 million dollars should be enough to keep Jordan Love happy.
Would be complete if the helmet had the matching stripe as the jersey/pants.
GB season ticket holder here…
Strikes me as a merchandise grab, as the pro shop has plenty of white sweatshirts and jackets, etc. available to augment the wardrobe.
As for the outlook itself, it’s fine, whatever. I’d prefer they didn’t do it but it’s better than several things I could imagine them doing.
My guess is they’re just using the decals from the Gold helmet on these. Must be too cheap to spring for a Green-Gold-Green decal for the stripe. Might as well just relocate them to a real market at this point so they can afford another set of helmet decals.
the team made more than $60 million last year, and spends money easily. “cheap” is not a word that comes to mind, to me, about them.
SPRITE UNIFORM SPRITE UNIFORM
“…also calls for fans to wear white.”
This should be easy. The Packers, hands down, have the whitest fan base in the NFL.
Naw…no white at all…but you may know of other fans that I do not.
link
Booooooooooo
Wouldn’t this have looked a LOT better??????
link
No yellow = Stupid
Those photos just remind me of something…?
Took me a few minutes…
link
Isn’t it hard to have a White Out, or any color that the team wants the fans to wear, when it’s cold, or rains, or snows? It’s one thing to put on a white or colored t-shirt, and another for fans to purchase coats in white.
What crap.
The pic with the player with the stupid, long yellow shirt sagging down with the yellow sleeves illustrates why this helmet looks like crap. A yellow center stripe and perhaps a yellow G would have made much more sense (although the whole exercise is dumb).
The Packers have the same issue the Cowboys have with white helmets. Either eliminate all the yellow in the pant stripe to match helmet, or you need middle helmet stripe yellow. The jerseys – well have yellow to match helmet and pants, or just remove it to correspond with pants amd helmet.
They should push these out about 6 weeks. Let’s wait for better odds of snowy weather to have the game in an actual whiteout.
Those helmet stripes are as bad as these Arizona sleeve stripes… link
No gold? How could they screw up something so simple? LOL
Our now ex-kicker B. Narveson wearing (44) a fullback # was beyond hideous! As far as this new helmet premier goes, easy fix just add the damn gold stripe down the middle! Thanks in advance!!!
It looks like they lost their helmets and had to borrow these from a local high school who do not wear gold with their white and green.
I mean, the inverse works too. We see teams who have colors on their helmets that aren’t seen anywhere else. The Steelers have red and blue on their helmets but no where else except in the standard NFL logo patches and their logo patch on their jersey.
Make it stop…
A yellow G and a yellow middle stripe would make this all white set PERFECT.
Packers road unis are terrible. Sleeve stripes should inverted. Pants should be green.