NFL 2022 Changes

[AFirestormToPurify]

3 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

All it takes is for one to find a revenue stream and the others will be close behind

 

That isn't knee-jerk. I just don't share your optimism. 

You're right, I guess you could say I'm just being optimistic. I'm not sure how alternate helmets could represent an additional revenue stream, though. I know some people buy replica helmets but the market for that has to be tiny compared to jersey sales

Weren't teams forced into participating in the color rush program by the NFL? Again, comparing apples to oranges I think. And even then, correct me if I'm wrong but some teams resisted the idea and sorta refused to participate fully (not wearing solid socks for example, or just wearing shoulders-to-knee white), and didn't Washington just opt out completely and flat out said "no"? I may be optimistic but you're being overly pessimistic lol

[AFirestormToPurify]

7 minutes ago, dont care said:

Further destroying brands

That's just your opinion. If you think having three pairs of pants is "destroying" your identity, then sure, adding an extra helmet is probably the end of the world for you. I don't see any point in continuing this discussion with you any further. You never have anything nice to say to anything or anyone. I don't recall ever seeing you praise a uniform or agree with anyone. All you do on here is whine and act like a know-it-all, always trying to win arguments instead of just exchanging thoughts and sometimes conceding that the other person made an interesting point. The only reason I haven't blocked you yet is because I'm not a coward lol

[gosioux76]

12 minutes ago, AFirestormToPurify said:

You're right, I guess you could say I'm just being optimistic. I'm not sure how alternate helmets could represent an additional revenue stream, though. I know some people buy replica helmets but the market for that has to be tiny compared to jersey sales

Weren't teams forced into participating in the color rush program by the NFL? Again, comparing apples to oranges I think. And even then, correct me if I'm wrong but some teams resisted the idea and sorta refused to participate fully (not wearing solid socks for example, or just wearing shoulders-to-knee white), and didn't Washington just opt out completely and flat out said "no"? I may be optimistic but you're being overly pessimistic lol

 

Helmets on their own may not equal a ton of revenue, but I'd think in many cases the alt-helmets would be paired with new alt-uniforms or even entirely new sub-brands.

 

Think of it this way; the restrictions placed on football helmets in the NFL has served as something of a safeguard against the sort of brand experimentation we've seen in other leagues.  Now, it seems feasible that the Ravens could incorporate a Maryland flag-inspired helmet or the Steelers could embrace chrome (as an homage to steel, I suppose) or the Eagles could take a full-on Liberty Belle theme. 

 

I'm not suggesting this will happen. Like you, I'd like to think most teams will show some degree restraint. But the NBA has found itself a rich vein of commerce in appealing to its fans' civic pride and nostalgia. There's nothing to indicate the same thing wouldn't work for the NFL. 

 

And one more point on this: the Commanders are already one example of a team that is rolling out an alternate helmet paired with an entirely different alternate uniform. And what we're left with is mess that may as well represent two entirely different teams. 

[AFirestormToPurify]

39 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

Now, it seems feasible that the Ravens could incorporate a Maryland flag-inspired helmet or the Steelers could embrace chrome (as an homage to steel, I suppose) or the Eagles could take a full-on Liberty Belle theme. 

Frankly, I don't think any of that seems "feasible", while we're at it, isn't also feasible that the Raiders add hot pink to their colour scheme?

I get your point about Washington already making people nervous but I'm pretty sure they would have butchered their identity with or without the extra helmet. This is a very specific case where the owner is an idiot and where they also had to distance themselves as much as possible from the old identity with the forbidden old nickname. I don't think any of this applies to the Steelers who haven't changed their uniforms in forever. Or the Ravens that haven't changed their uniforms in like 25 years. Or the Eagles that also haven't changed their uniforms in 25 years. Like I said, and I'm just a regular guy with no connections and average intelligence lol, but I'd still bet a lot of money on the fact that no self respecting team will come up with outlandish stuff like that. None of them have ever done anything to make me feel anxious about a chrome helmet or a flag helmet. It would be extremely out of character for the vast majority of teams. I could see the Eagles coming up with a black helmet but let's be real, it's way more likely that they would just make a kelly green throwback. And worst case scenario, I don't think a black helmet would "destroy" their identity more than the black jersey already does. They'd still have the iconic wings. You're all stressing out for no reason. Everything will be fine, I promise lmao

There aren't too many team we need to be worried about I think. Even the Jaguars have probably learned their lesson with their last two non-traditional helmets that were universally derided. Titans, Jets? Rams, maybe? Probably the only teams I could see going the outlandish route

 

I also think there's a huge difference in uniform culture in the NFL and NBA. There aren't too many teams in the NFL that have drastically changed their identity several times like the Warriors, Hawks, Rockets, Nuggets, Jazz, Wizards, Raptors etc, I could go on and on. For every team like the Bulls and Celtics there's 10 teams that can't seem to choose an identity and stick to it. It's not as common in the NFL. It's the other way around actually. I don't think it's fair to compare them

[gosioux76]

Yeah, how about those traditional and consistent Chicago Bulls. 

 

Not trying to poke fun, but the point remains: when this train gets rolling, there's nothing stopping everybody from jumping on board. 

[AFirestormToPurify]

17 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

Yeah, how about those traditional and consistent Chicago Bulls. 

 

Not trying to poke fun, but the point remains: when this train gets rolling, there's nothing stopping everybody from jumping on board. 

To be honest, I had completely forgotten about that jersey lol. Then again, it's the NBA. The Bulls are still about as traditional and consistent as you're gonna get in that league where even the Lakers and Knicks don't see their uniforms as sacred and untouchable, maybe I could have said the Spurs instead but you get my point, both leagues are absolutely NOT comparable in terms of uniform culture

[SportsFan12]

Here's a list of teams that I think should add a second helmet that isn't for a throwback:

 

(End of list)

 

I don't understand how the same league that still insists on having the Lions play every Thanksgiving, among other odd traditions, now wants teams to veer away from traditional looks and is encouraging these pajama-esque uniforms. The thought of teams adding a colored helmet to match an all-white/all-black, or all-any color uniform that isn't already inexistence is nauseating.

 

 

[dont care]

Look at college football, that is what we are afraid of. The rules as they were suppressed that for the most part. Look how many of those games you can turn on and don’t know who’s playing because Florida is wearing an olive green gator print uniform, or someone wearing a pink breast cancer uniform, or some other nonsense. When we have seen it in every other sports league you have to see why we don’t want the one league to not go in that direction because it is a slippery slope, and that slope gets steep in a hurry.

[oldschoolvikings]

2 hours ago, AFirestormToPurify said:

 

Just the same old knee jerk reaction we see every time on here whenever something new is announced. Because old=good, new=bad!

 

 

This tired old bit again.

 

So your reaction to what you believe to be a poorly thought-out over-generalization on the part of some peoples' opinions is an over generalization of your own?  Awesome.

 

Most of those alternative helmet suggestion you made sound horrific. However, I'm sure your knee jerk reaction will be to disagree with me.

[Sport]

2 hours ago, AFirestormToPurify said:

Again, knee jerk reaction. The NBA have up to four (or is it FIVE?) jerseys a year, at least one of them can't be worn for more than one season and they're strongly encouraged to think outside the box and experiment with different colours

 

And the NBA teams have diluted their brands strength to the point that many of them have lost all meaning. The NBA is the example of what I don't want the NFL to become. 

[AFirestormToPurify]

28 minutes ago, oldschoolvikings said:

Most of those alternative helmet suggestion you made sound horrific. However, I'm sure your knee jerk reaction will be to disagree with me.

You're just proving my point. It's "horrific" just because it's not what you're used to seeing. Nothing is objectively horrific about a black Raiders helmet. It would look great with the black jerseys, and if they had been using black helmets for the last 50 years and I had suggested silver, you'd be saying it's "horrific". You're not even reasonable enough to say "I wouldn't like it, I prefer when things stay simple" instead

I didn't even suggest a chrome or matte finish, 50/50 splits, gradients or anything that could potentially be seen as distasteful by a vast majority of people. I mostly suggested colours that have mostly been used by the team before, save for teal and light blue. Some college teams use those colours on their helmets and they don't look "horrific"

 

You know what, now I just want the Vikings to prove me wrong and bust out a ridiculous matte black helmet with a tiny logo on the forehead and an iridescent yellow/purple facemask just so I can laugh at your impotent rage

[AFirestormToPurify]

28 minutes ago, Sport said:

And the NBA teams have diluted their brands strength to the point that many of them have lost all meaning. The NBA is the example of what I don't want the NFL to become. 

You can be scared all you want, I see no evidence pointing to that conclusion. You can fear a slippery slope all you want, I just can't see the Steelers getting a chrome helmet or the Packers mimicking Swiss cheese with fake holes on their helmets because the Commanders have a black helmet or because the NBA, a different league, a different sport even, are hellbent on selling as many jerseys as possible and have next to no strong, consistent identities save for a handful of teams

Your irrational fear of matte black or chrome helmets is what is stopping you from embracing the endless possibilities of having a secondary helmet and frankly, I just find it unfortunate for you. And I'm not specifically singling you out, but just the people who hate/dread the idea of a 2nd helmet in general

[dont care]

10 minutes ago, AFirestormToPurify said:

You're just proving my point. It's "horrific" just because it's not what you're used to seeing. Nothing is objectively horrific about a black Raiders helmet. It would look great with the black jerseys, and if they been using black helmets for the last 50 years and I had suggested silver, you'd be saying it's "horrific". You're not even reasonable enough to say "I wouldn't like it, I prefer when things stay simple" instead

I didn't even suggest a chrome or matte finish, 50/50 splits, gradients or anything that could potentially be seen as distasteful by a vast majority of people. I mostly suggested colours that have mostly been used by the team before, save for teal and light blue. Some college teams use those colours on their helmets and they don't look "horrific"

 

You know what, now I just want the Vikings to prove me wrong and bust out a ridiculous matte black helmet with a tiny logo on the forehead and an iridescent yellow/purple facemask just so I can laugh at your impotent rage

In a vacuum no it’s not, but teams have over 50 years of history and brand recognition. Changing for the sake of change and not liking it isn’t a “knee jerk reaction” especially when we have seen what alternates and the like have done to every other league in the world.

[dont care]

2 minutes ago, AFirestormToPurify said:

You can be scared all you want, I see no evidence pointing to that conclusion. You can fear a slippery slope all you want, I just can't see the Steelers getting a chrome helmet or the Packers mimicking Swiss cheese with fake holes on their helmets because the Commanders have a black helmet or because the NBA, a different league, a different sport even, are hellbent on selling as many jerseys as possible and have next to no strong, consistent identities save for a handful of teams

Your irrational fear of matte black or chrome helmets is what is stopping you from embracing the endless possibilities of having a secondary helmet and frankly, I just find it unfortunate for you. And I'm not specifically singling you out, but just the people who hate the idea of a 2nd helmet in general

There is plenty of evidence of this. You are just refusing to acknowledge it when presented to you. This is just one more step closer.

[AFirestormToPurify]

5 minutes ago, dont care said:

In a vacuum no it’s not, but teams have over 50 years of history and brand recognition. Changing for the sake of change and not liking it isn’t a “knee jerk reaction” especially when we have seen what alternates and the like have done to every other league in the world.

Again, I dunno why you feel the need to compare it to every other league in the world. The NFL is clearly its own thing

 

5 minutes ago, dont care said:

There is plenty of evidence of this. You are just refusing to acknowledge it when presented to you. This is just one more step closer.

What evidence? The Jaguars? They reverted back to a basic black helmet as soon as they could. The... Rams? Now that they've unveiled a white jersey, I've been seeing a lot more positive reactions to their set on this very forum. It seems like their uniforms are growing on people slowly but surely and that if they would ditch the bone jerseys and stop going mono blue, not many would be complaining about the rest of their set

Am I missing something more obvious? I feel like all the teams that have tried going in a more outlandish direction have all reverted back to more traditional uniforms, or will in a few years once they're allowed to. What am I not seeing?

 

Oh and being a lifelong Montreal Canadiens fan and being lectured on tradition is quite funny to me. The Raiders could wear a black helmet just as the Canadiens wore a blue jersey last year. Sure, it feels weird at first but you could still tell you were watching the Canadiens in their iconic jerseys, it made the colour balance a little different but they didn't "destroy" their legacy or identity or anything like that. No one is saying that the Raiders need a chrome gold helmet to fit with the other Vegas team and nothing makes me think they would ever consider it either

[oldschoolvikings]

15 minutes ago, AFirestormToPurify said:

You're just proving my point.

 

No, you're missing mine. You just posted a bit about how you considered blocking someone because you felt they were, and I quote, "trying to win arguments instead of just exchanging thoughts and sometimes conceding that the other person made an interesting point"... completely ignoring that fact that you started this entire exchange by belittling the opinions of anyone who disagreed with you as "blind knee jerk reactions". 

 

If you really want to "exchange thoughts", you might consider not kicking off with a condescending blast implying that other people's opinions are somehow not valid or well considered. 

[dont care]

6 minutes ago, AFirestormToPurify said:

Again, I dunno why you feel the need to compare it to every other league in the world. The NFL is clearly its own thing

 

What evidence? The Jaguars? They reverted back to a basic black helmet as soon as they could. The... Rams? Now that they've unveiled a white jersey, I've been seeing a lot more positive reactions to their set on this very forum. It seems like their uniforms are growing on people slowly but surely and that if they would ditch the bone jerseys and stop going mono blue, not many would be complaining about the rest of their set

Am I missing something more obvious? I feel like all the teams that have tried going in a more outlandish direction have all reverted back to more traditional uniforms, or will in a few years once they're allowed to. What am I not seeing?

 

Oh and being a lifelong Montreal Canadiens fan and being lectured on tradition is quite funny to me. The Raiders could wear a black helmet just as the Canadiens wore a blue jersey last year. Sure, it feels weird at first but you could still tell you were watching the Canadiens in their iconic jerseys, it made the colour balance a little different but they didn't "destroy" their legacy or identity or anything like that. No one is saying that the Raiders need a chrome gold helmet to fit with the other Vegas team and nothing makes me think they would ever consider it either

“When you look at the league 10 years ago versus now it’s completely different. Went from one alternate or throwback that could only be worn 2x to now having teams with throwbacks,  alternates, and color rush uniforms that can be worn over 4x (I forget if it was 5 or 6 times the ravens wore their colorrush and alts the last 2 seasons) and now adding anadditional element being the helmet to mix and match where it doesn’t fit. ” this whole part that you refused to acknowledge because it’s true. The evidence of the other leagues doing the same thing evened the traditional teams that you say wouldn’t change for the sake of change and introducing a new revenue stream. If you don’t think Nike will try to pressure the league into some sorta city or reverse retro, or full blown color rush marketing gimmick that teams will have to wear then you are naive.

[PlayGloria]

I think everyone is right here... but just not listening. None of the points you guys are making are mutually exclusive.

 

Yes, this could make for some great helmets. I would love to see some inverted helmets and more of a home/road split. 

Yes, this will definitely make for some hideous helmets that have nothing to do with the teams identity or branding. 

 

I am personally:

a) pumped for the throwbacks

b) excited to see what teams throw out there because i love uniforms

c) nervous as hell because I know that 50% of them will be trash

 

[AFirestormToPurify]

Just now, oldschoolvikings said:

 

No, you're missing mine. You just posted a bit about how you considered blocking someone because you felt they were, and I quote, "trying to win arguments instead of just exchanging thoughts and sometimes conceding that the other person made an interesting point"... completely ignoring that fact that you started this entire exchange by belittling the opinions of anyone who disagreed with you as "blind knee jerk reactions". 

 

If you really want to "exchange thoughts", you might consider not kicking off with a condescending blast implying that other people's opinions are somehow not valid or well considered. 

The way I see it, I'm not the one being condescending. You made no point. You just said my (really tame) ideas were, and I quote, "horrific". I can't concede that you've made any interesting point unfortunately, as the only argument in favour of having only one shell is the vague notion that tradition must be conserved at all costs, otherwise, the NFL is inevitably going to look like the NBA and completely dilute their branding soon. I'm just not seeing it, and I'm asking for evidence and all you guys can bring up is a different league

I get the idea that the football helmet has a long history of being seeing as the de-facto logo of every team but is it even the case anymore? Just an example, how is the Eagles wearing a black winged helmet any different than a kelly green helmet? Because kelly green has been worn before? Even in all-black from head to toe, don't you think they'd still be easily identifiable by even the most casual observer? And once again, who's to say teams will jump at the opportunity to go with a secondary colour as opposed to simply being able to wear accurate throwbacks with matching helmets? So far, the Bucs and Seahawks have said that they intented on going retro, right? Well, who exactly came out and said, "nah, none of this wack retro stuff. #blackout baby "

[dont care]

3 minutes ago, AFirestormToPurify said:

Well, who exactly came out and said, "nah, none of this wack retro stuff. #blackout baby "

The commanders…