Coming on the heels of the NFL 2025 schedule release, which was announced last night, Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney II announced that the team will wear a new throwback uniform and helmet this season, in a short segment of the following video. Most of his commentary is about the featured games on the schedule, but if we fast forward to around 2:15, Rooney drops the new throwback news.
(If you cannot view that video above, you can click here to watch it.)
It’s almost a throwaway couple of lines, but Rooney said, “We are going to have a new throwback uniform this year, and with a new helmet to go with it.
“We’re planning to wear our new throwbacks for the Packers game on Sunday night, October 26. It’ll be fun to wear our throwbacks against one of the older franchises in the league — that just seems to be appropriate.”
Rooney also noted the team will be bringing back its color rush uniforms, likely against the Miami Dolphins during Monday Night Football in Week 15.
Unfortunately, Rooney wouldn’t (or couldn’t) say what “new” throwback and helmet the team will be wearing — but the implication is it will not be a throwback the team has worn previously.
Over the years, the Steelers have worn several throwbacks. In 1994, when the NFL celebrated its 75th Anniversary, the Steelers participated by wearing an approximate throwback to their first season, 1933. (Note that the then-Pirates that season also had the infamous “bumblebee” uniform, which they would later reprise as a throwback.)
Note also that back in 1933, the Pirates wore gold, leather helmets — both the 1994 throwback and the bumblebees throwbacks that would follow were worn with the teams (then) current black shell — so technically both of these were fauxbacks.
In 2007, and through 2011, the Steelers introduced a throwback featuring a gold helmet and white pants. This, so far, has been the only time the team had worn a gold helmet since 1962. That was also the uniform the Steelers wore as their throwback.
The black and gold followed up their 1962 throwback with the infamous “bumblebee” look — which as noted above, was worn for part of the 1933 inaugural season for Pittsburgh. The Steelers would wear the mega-stripe look from 2012-2016. Also, as noted, the team used their regular black shell, whereas the 1933 helmets were leather and painted gold.
Finally, the Steelers introduced a new throwback in 2018 (and which they would wear until this past season). That throwback was very minor, and it was a more recent uniform to which the team was throwing back — the “Steel Curtain” uniforms worn by the teams who won Super Bowls IX, X, XIII and XIV. In some years, the team kept their (current) black face mask, but the team also paired these throwbacks with black hats and gray cages as well. The Steelers switched from gray to black masks in 1977, so either mask is technically correct, depending upon which specific year the team was referencing.
That uniform is pretty much the same as the team currently wears as its primary home uniform, with the biggest difference being the old-school block numbers. In 1997, the Steelers would drop the block numeral font, and changed to their current custom version of the Futura Condensed Italic typeface. That was (supposedly) done to match the font face of the TV number which appears on the front of the Steelers helmets.
So, what will the new throwback helmet and uniform be?
Assuming we can take Rooney literally, the new throwback won’t be one the team has worn before. That means none of the above throwbacks will be revived. But Rooney also mentioned a “new” helmet. Throughout their history, the team has never worn any color shell but black or gold (even if we count the leatherhead years, those helmets were painted black or gold or both). So when Rooney speaks of a “new” helmet, I have to believe he means “new this year” — since no throwback could have a shell in anything but black or gold.
My guess is the Steelers new throwback will include a gold helmet — perhaps a decal-less one (since the team only had the now classic hypocycloid decal beginning in late 1961, and that helmet was already paired with the 1962 throwback). But with which throwback uniform will that helmet be paired?
I would have to think the team will be throwing back to the uniform worn from 1946 through 1959 — which used a gold, logoless helmet over a black jersey and gold pants (a look I’ve been hoping to see — either in throwback or alternate form — for years).
This uniform — or one similar — is what I’m picturing Rooney as describing. While anything is possible, I’m going to guess the team won’t throwback to any pre-WWII uniforms (nor would they don the “Steagles” or “Pitt-Card” uniforms worn by the team when they briefly merged with Philadelphia and the Chicago Cardinals during World War II).
One more thing of note: The Steelers were originally known as the Pirates (a name the kept from 1933 until 1939). In 1940, the team officially became the Steelers. It’s certainly possible the team might throwback to those very early years — after all, they’re already worn two 1933 throwbacks. But my guess will be the gold/black/gold look for the mid-’40s and ’50s. And that would be A-OK with me!
We won’t know which throwback the team is wearing until later this year — possibly over the summer (a time when many throwbacks are announced), but it could also be much closer to the actual debut (October 26) against the Packers. If they are indeed going to throw back to the gold helmet era, it’s interesting they selected the Packer game for their debut, as the Packers are the only team in the NFL to wear gold helmets.
Thoughts?
I say bring on the Batman jerseys.
Exactly! Just saw them and they are cool!
Guessing: it’ll be the Batman shoulder unis … five days before Halloween. With white helmets. -C.
*yellow helmets.
That wouldn’t be a throwback, though.
I’d LOVE to see the Batman jerseys — at least once — but they always paired those with the black helmets. Shame they only wore them for two seasons.
Many Steelers fans have pointed out the Steelers were not a good team when wear that style. (The went 5-8-1 in 1966 and 4-9-1 in 1967.) Unfortunately, many fans associate specific uniforms with success (or sucking), and so aren’t keen on teams wearing throwbacks to teams that weren’t very good. I’ve always maintained that it’s not the uniforms that win games, but no one ever said fandom was based on rationality.
So, while I’d prefer the Batman look, I don’t think they’d wear it (for it to be a true throwback that would mean pairing it with the [current] black shell). And Rooney said the team will have a “new” helmet. So to me, that basically means a gold hat, as any other throwback would require a black helmet…which is not “new”.
NFL should do away with clash helmet games. Home team chooses their helmet, if needed visiting team wears an alternate-color helmet.
Same for alts that incorporate standard elements of the other team — like the Eagles going BFBS against the Ravens or the Bears going Orange against the Bengals. It happens so often it HAS to be deliberate.
I hope it’s the 40s-50s look you mentioned. But that would be a serious lack of foresight to wear that against the Packers, unless they go all white.
Bringing back the 07-11 throwbacks and keeping their Color Rush option the same would be VERY silly, given how similar the jerseys look.
Agreed (really, it’s basically white pants vs black pants, and of course a different color shell).
That’s why I’m thinking Rooney is talking about the gold/black/gold look I referenced. I could very easily be wrong, but going off his comments, there aren’t a lot of possible unis that fit his descripton.
The gold/black/gold you referenced IS the 07-11 throwback jersey.
Yes, I referenced that as a past throwback they’ve already worn. Based on Rooney’s comments, the throwback will be “new” as well as have a new helmet. That pretty much indicates to me the late 40s-50s uni as the only one which would fit what (I believe) Rooney is saying.
Does the 40s/50s kit look a lot like the 1962? Yes, in terms of the jersey. But the helmet is slightly different (and doesn’t have the now iconic logo) — so he’s probably considering that “new” and while that 40s/50s jersey bears striking similarities to the Color Rush jersey, the helmet AND pants are nothing like the Color Rush kit.
We’re probably just arguing(?) over semantics here. If you go to the GUD’s Steelers page (link), you’ll see that aside from the Batman jerseys, the Steelers jerseys have been remarkably consistent over the years, so of course many “throwback” jerseys will look similar to what they currently wear.
And the 2007-11 jersey has WHITE pants, not gold, so I’m certainly not referring to that when I say “gold/black/gold”.
We probably are, but set aside the pants and even the helmet for now. Because the only point I was making was that bringing back ANY throwback that would bring back essentially the same jersey as the 07-11 throwback would be very silly unless they make changes to their Color Rush jersey. Having those two jerseys in the rotation at the same time, regardless of what helmet and pants they pair with EITHER of them, is what seems silly to me.
And again…I don’t disagree and am (still) holding out hope for Batman. But my point remains — no matter WHAT year(s) they throw back to, one of the jerseys are going to look a lot like the present ones. If not Batman, what jersey worn post WWII until today doesn’t look like one they already have (or have already worn as a throwback)?
And if the Steelers wear their current unis and their throwback is to the Steel Curtain era, isn’t that basically the same thing they’re wearing now? (The only difference is the block number and possibly cage color.) If they were two basically identical jerseys NOW, at least the 40s/50s throwback has a completely different helmet color and pants shade.
I’m guessing you’re looking at this from the retail perspective. In other words, your thought process goes like this: “Why introduce a new throwback jersey that looks essentially like the color rush jersey, because no one is going to buy both.” (is that where you’re going with this)? That you don’t think they’ll introduce a throwback that won’t sell as well at retail because it’s too similar to one already being worn?
Because, I don’t look at uniforms with regard to retail opportunities. My reply is “so what if it’s basically the same jersey” even though the gold helmet and gold pants are completely different from the CR uni.
I’ll let you have the last word on this. And please correct me if I’m wrong about the retail aspect.
So first let me say that I’m not really arguing with YOU, per se lol. Let me put it this way:
The Steelers unveiling of their block number jersey as a throwback WAS silly, because of how similar it is to their regular jersey. Both for the retail aspect and ‘most people can’t tell the difference between the two uniforms on the field in any given game besides uniform people’ aspect. Though adding the gray facemask this past season helped a bit with that.
Wearing their all-black color rush and comparing it to either a yellow-black-white or yellow-black-yellow throwback solves that 2nd aspect, for sure. But I also believe that the 07-11 throwback jersey and their color rush jersey are even MORE similar to each other than their standard black and block-number throwback jerseys are to one another, so from a retail aspect, introducing the 07-11 jersey BACK into the rotation along with the color rush would be ESPECIALLY silly.
Why I say I’m not arguing with you is because while it WOULD be silly of them…the Steelers have already proven to be silly with that sort of thing with the regular black/block number throwback jerseys both being on the shelves simultaneously. So I wouldn’t put it past them to be silly again…but I’m still gonna call it silly if it ends up happening, which is all my original comment was meant to convey. Let’s hope it’s Batman.
Serious question no snark.
“…as the Packers are the only team in the NFL to wear gold helmets.”
I know that both the Packers and Steelers call the color they wear “gold,” though I would suspect to most that they see and think of the color as “yellow.”
Even still what then would you call the color the 49ers wear on their helmet if not “gold” or a gradient of “gold.” They call it it “Gold Rush Gradient.”
Now the “gold” on the 49ers, helmets is closer to what the Purdue Boilmakers wear (and Purdue calls it “Old Gold”) and not as bright as what Notre Dame wears (and what we probably would all agree is actually the color “gold”).
Still, do the 49ers not wear “gold” helmets?
They do indeed wear “gold” — which is also further broken down by shade. Teams like the Niners, Boilers or Saints wear either “metallic” or “old” or “vegas” gold. Usually this is the “shiny” gold.
But both the Packers and Steelers wear “gold” as in what I call “athletic” or “yellow” gold.
link
As any Packers or Steelers fan their colors and inevitably you’ll get “green and gold” or “black and gold” not “yellow” even if that shade of gold is what most of us refer to as yellow. I consider what the Rams or Oregon (non-throwback version) wear to be “yellow” as it is a different shade (it’s brighter) than athletic (yellow) gold.
So, technically, yes…the Steelers and Packers aren’t the only teams who wear “gold” (as a catchall), but they are the only two teams who wear athletic gold.
Steelers official colors: link
Packers official colors: link
Just like there are four teams who wear green jerseys, none of the three are the same shade. Philly is “midnight” green, Packers are “dark” green, Jets are “gotham” green, and the Seahawks are “action” (neon) green. And if we take it even further, the Eagles throwbacks are “kelly” green and the Jets throwbacks are (I think) “Legacy” green. They’re all different shades of green, but they’re still all green.
So, yes. Technically the Packers are the only other team to wear athletic gold helmets, but they’re not the only team to wear “gold” in terms of the overall spread of different hues.
To switch it up a bit. What do you think someone who had never seen a football game would call the color the Packers wear if shown a picture of their uniforms?
I’ve been a Packers fan since the 80’s (I’ve got a Don Majkowski #7 jersey to prove it). And until I looked it up yesterday – I had always considered the Packers colors to be Green and Yellow.
Partially because my interest in the Packers sprang from the similarity between my High School’s football uniforms which were derivative of the Packers (same color pants including the stripes) same color home and road jerseys (with similar sleeve striping).
Because the assistant football coach was also the head lacrosse coach, these colors carried over to the lacrosse uniforms I wore. Shorts the same color as the Packers pants with the same green and white stripes on the side. Jerseys of white or green (no sleeve stripes).
But here’s the thing. Our colors were “Green & Yellow.” Gold was never referenced or alluded to.
Honestly – I would suspect the Packers and Steelers (especially) as well as some other teams call their brand of “yellow,” gold because of the connotation in history between yellow and fear. You can ‘t be a big bad football team and be afraid.
More realistically though, the Packers did at some points wear the actual color gold, seen in this photo from 1935: link
But that is clearly not the color that Lombardi introduced in 1959 and that the team largely continues to wear to this day: link
The Packers and Steelers can call the color anything they like. I would suspect 75% of humans see their colors and think: yellow.
Bring back the yellow 7-11 helmet and wear it with the black block number font jersey and yellow pants. That would be awesome.
Batman! But that will probably not happen, given the record and the black helmet (which is not new). If it does happen (even with a gold helmet, as inaccurately as it is) that would be wonderful.
I feel like that sets up a TREMENDOUS strategic disadvantage for the Steelers if they wore a gold shell helmet against the Packers.