NFL 2022 Changes

[Sport]

14 minutes ago, BBTV said:

the problem is they were worn in ‘94 when all the teams were wearing throwbacks, so they ruined the throwback look by simply putting old logos on their current-colored helmets. The helmets don’t necessarily look bad on their own, but when paired with a throwback it made for an inaccurate mess. 

 

It bothered the heck out of little me and I didn't have anyone in my life that I was able to safely talk about it with. 

 

I wonder how many uni-nerds were born out of the NFL 75th throwbacks in 94. 

[FiddySicks]

1 hour ago, jerrylawless3 said:

In a weird twist, it looks like the Bengals' new white helmet will be paired with their 2016–2020 Color Rush uniforms.

 

Wow, this is really strange. The NFL went from being so darn strict on their branding requirements, and seemingly in one off season the whole dam has burst. There were a few random hints that there were cracks here and there (Ravens unexpected alt pants come to mind, both purple and gold. Browns surprise orange pants, etc), but it’s pretty incredible to see all of this relaxed so quickly. 
 

I kinda feel like the same thing happened with the NBA. Strict to the point where they didn’t even want the manufacturers logo in the game unis, only to flush all of that away the minute Nike took over. Took the NFL a lot longer, but it’s fascinating how much all of this has changed in the past few years. 

[Indigo]

So the  "alt helmet is only worn with alt jersey" rule is still in effect?

[DG_ThenNowForever]

26 minutes ago, FiddySicks said:

Wow, this is really strange. The NFL went from being so darn strict on their branding requirements, and seemingly in one off season the whole dam has burst. There were a few random hints that there were cracks here and there (Ravens unexpected alt pants come to mind, both purple and gold. Browns surprise orange pants, etc), but it’s pretty incredible to see all of this relaxed so quickly. 

 

For sure. I think we're going to get 5 years of Alt-amania running wild, and then the clamps come back on.

[oldschoolvikings]

[BBTV]

Ironically for those of us that don’t want for people’s brains to be scrambled, an uptick in concussions that can be correlated with the alt-helmet weeks would likely be the only way this madness ends (not that the league wouldn’t do everything possible to hide that info). 

EDIT: for clarity, I don’t want there to be any concussions at all, just sayin that would make it stop. 

[aupa]

So the Bengals press release confirmed that alternate helmets still must be worn with alternate, throwback, or CR jerseys. Wonder if this means Carolina is redesignating blue to be the primary, since that would be their only way to wear the mono-black 

[oldschoolvikings]

1 minute ago, BBTV said:

Ironically for those of us that don’t want for people’s brains to be scrambled, an uptick in concussions that can be correlated with the alt-helmet weeks would likely be the only way this madness ends (not that the league wouldn’t do everything possible to hide that info). 

EDIT: for clarity, I don’t want there to be any concussions at all, just sayin that would make it stop. 

 

I was thinking that, too.  One good lawsuit from a player who's helmet of choice wasn't available in the alternate version and claimed his health was at risk because of it, and we could see some backpedaling.

[Red Comet]

Everything Nike touches turns to :censored:. For the fans anyway. For the owners, Nike is a godsend.

[WSU151]

5 minutes ago, oldschoolvikings said:

 

I was thinking that, too.  One good lawsuit from a player who's helmet of choice wasn't available in the alternate version and claimed his health was at risk because of it, and we could see some backpedaling.

 

I think that's one of the guidelines from the 2021 memo - all helmet models that are worn for the regular set must be available for the alternate (not sure why one helmet would be available but not the other), and they have to be fitted together at training camp. 

[oldschoolvikings]

4 hours ago, WSU151 said:

 

 (not sure why one helmet would be available but not the other)

 

Well, at one time the NFL had a grandfather clause that let players continue to wear a discontinued model of helmet, if that was their  personal choice.  If it was a helmet that was out of production for a few years, it might not be available for an alternate.  I'm not sure what the state of this particular rule is... they probably found a way around it.

 

(IIRC, this was part of the Raiders/Antonio Brown kerfuffle a few years ago.)

 

[Bathysphere]

So let me get this straight: the Panthers are allowed to wear their regular home jersey with their new alt helmet, but the Bengals have to dig up an antiquated jersey which is mainly informed by the uniform they just ditched just so they can rock the white Tiger look they clearly designed their current away jersey for? I mean props to them for trying their best to explain the leagues cryptic rules through a children’s storybook narrative, but Im struggling to add up the reasoning.
 

Here’s my best shot: They can only wear the helmet on top of an alternate jersey or a color rush uniform. The Bengals designated their normal road jersey with white pants and socks as their “color rush” uniform when they debuted a year ago, but you can only designate a new “color rush” every two years (per the video, I think??), so they can’t make changes to it, i.e. pairing it with a different helmet. The Panthers are allowed to piece together a new “color rush” with their black helmets and uniforms because they last designated a “color rush” in 2015. However, since the Bengals didn’t introduce a second alt with the update, they can say that their last set’s second alt is technically still in their second alt slot, so they can pull it up at any time. I imagine it’s just to bridge the gap until they can actually designate it with the current whites. But, does that mean they’ll get to do it next year, because they won’t technically designate the white helmet with the old jersey as “color rush” but as an alt that happens to be all white? Or does the clock reset and they have to wait until 2024 to wear the white helmet and road jersey together? Meaning that they drudged up an old jersey that they’re stuck with for two more years just so they didn’t have to wait till 2023 to get their white tiger clicks in? Could they have avoided this if they foresaw this designation debacle a year ago and played their cards accordingly?

 

Man I don’t know. Color rush is such a perplexing niche of the ruleset. Home, away, and alternate/throwback jerseys will always make sense in terms of guidelines because they are discreetly defined by the historical precedents of how football uniforms are worn. But color rush is such a nebulous concept, just a uniform where both all the colors are the same AND the team decided to call it “color rush.” There are plenty of uniforms worn that are all one color, but they aren’t “color rush” until the team calls it that. And once they do, they’re suddenly subject to special “color rush” rules? Even though “color rush” literally refers to a primetime uniform campaign from five years ago that failed epically because they couldn’t forge enough contrast so every game had an all white uniform and a lot of the uniforms were barely or never used? How is this garbage codified BY NAME in the NFL’s official ruleset?? Arghhhhh I :censored:ing hate color rush.

[VDizzle12]

54 minutes ago, Red Comet said:

Everything Nike touches turns to :censored:. For the fans anyway most members of the CCSLC message board. For the fans, players and owners, Nike is a godsend.

 

Fixed it for you.

 

I don't see how Nike can be blamed for any of these helmets except for the Commanders. They didn't call the Saints, Bears and Bengals and said "Hey we need to sell more jerseys, how about you let us design some terrible helmets." Blame the teams, players and fans asking for this stuff. The clients are paying the bills and are going to get exactly what they want. 

[BJ Sands]

Blame the owners, not Nike (or helmet manufacturers). They can say no to this stuff if they want. 

[spartacat_12]

These alternate helmets have introduced a lot of ridiculous design elements to this league, but the fact that both of these uniforms are going to be worn in the same season makes no sense. Different helmets aside, this must be the most redundant alternate jersey I think I've seen.

 

 

[VikWings]

That Cardinals helmet is fine if they must keep the color rush around. But the white looks so much better with the black jerseys.

 

There is absoluteley no need for the Cowboys to decal sway and wear the white helmet with the color rush throwbacks. The silver is fine. how about you just wear the silver pants with them instead??

 

That leaves me to the Bears:

 

In a vacuum, for a team like Syracuse? It's fine. But for the Chicago freaking Bears??? That's almost makes me want to join @oldschoolvikings on the 'return of beautiful throwbacks aint worth some of the abominations that will come with it' bandwagon. (FWIW I like the Panthers and Texans and the Bengals works with the return of the color rush unis)

[damnyoutuesday]

18 minutes ago, spartacat_12 said:

These alternate helmets have introduced a lot of ridiculous design elements to this league, but the fact that both of these uniforms are going to be worn in the same season makes no sense. Different helmets aside, this must be the most redundant alternate jersey I think I've seen.

 

 

The Ravens have two purple jerseys

The Cardinals have two black jerseys

The Raiders have two white jerseys

The Texans have two navy jerseys

The Browns have two brown jerseys

The Giants, Dolphins, and 49ers have home and road throwbacks

 

[sky1324]

2 minutes ago, MNtwins3 said:

The Ravens have two purple jerseys

The Cardinals have two black jerseys

The Raiders have two white jerseys

The Texans have two navy jerseys

The Browns have two brown jerseys

The Giants, Dolphins, and 49ers have home and road throwbacks

 

Yeah and while those are all also unnecessary at least they have different designs/serve a different purpose - this set occupies the same design space as their normal road jersey.

[VDizzle12]

The Bengals bringing back an outdated jersey just so they can wear the Zebra helmets is pointless and unnecessary. The worst part is that neither of the white uniforms are anything special. At least when other teams have two jerseys of the same color, one is usually different enough or at least an improvement over the other. Other teams' Color Rush jerseys added a pop of color to the numbers and throwbacks go back to prominent eras. The Bengals old color rush uniforms do neither. 

[spartacat_12]

41 minutes ago, MNtwins3 said:

The Ravens have two purple jerseys

The Cardinals have two black jerseys

The Raiders have two white jerseys

The Texans have two navy jerseys

The Browns have two brown jerseys

 

At least these all use different coloured numbers from the primary to try and mix things up.

 

It was obvious when the Bengals rebranded that they were basing the set on the colour rush design. I'm sure they wanted to use the white helmet with the updated set, but that would be too simple for the NFL.