49ers uniform change coming up

[BlueSky]

Personally, I think the Bears should return to their yellow facemasks.

That's from the excellent helmethut.com, which is a great place to see what teams' helmets looked like back in the gray facemask days. That's what I was doing when I ran across Richie Petitbon's helmet shown above.

I agree that the gray facemask looks pretty bad on all but a few teams' helmets. The "that's the way they all used to be" argument doesn't hold up because we obviously had nothing to compare gray masks to back then. I can't imagine the Saints going with anything other than a black mask today, and think in general a color-coordinated mask looks better on most helmets.

Next let's argue chrome car bumpers vs. painted.

[Krona]

I think the only team that needs grey facemasks that doesnt have them yet is the the Chiefs. That being said, theres a handful of teams that could do it if they went throwback (49ers, Saints, Rams, Vikings)

[Nomad]

I don't care one way or the other about gray facemasks. I suppose matching colors are better. But if everything has to be color-coordinated, then few teams should have black shoes. (White would do for any team.)

[oldschoolvikings]

Joining in on the Gray facemask talk, I'm with the case-by-case people also. I like the Giants, I'm OK with the Browns and Colts (never liked the Colt's blues), dislike the Cards.

Just to stir up trouble... does anybody else hate the Redskins garish yellow things? OK, they got them in the 70's when they had Yellow pants to go with them, and other teams (Chargers) had loud ugly facemasks too, but now? Bad. They should go with a matching dark red mask.

[TruColor]

Just to stir up trouble... does anybody else hate the Redskins garish yellow things? OK, they got them in the 70's when they had Yellow pants to go with them, and other teams (Chargers) had loud ugly facemasks too, but now? Bad. They should go with a matching dark red mask.

I'm with you on that. I have always hated Yellow (Gold) masks. Hated the Chargers's as well.

Personally, I prefer dark-colored masks.

[Lightningfan]

I simply see them as nothing more than a necessary piece of protective equipment -- nothing that falls into the "must show color" category. If they do, and they look good (see Redskins, bias obvious) ... great. Just not mandatory.

Then again, I watched an NFL where every team had gray masks and no one thought twice about it.

Only one NFL team sports a facemask that stands out as a obvious wrong, ugly, and hideous choice. Washington Redskins. Their helmet cries out for anything other than the putrid yellow gold facemask. Maroon is probably best. Grey would work almost as well and white and black would be next choices. Black if they put some black in uniform to go with the black in the logo.

I am a big fan of Grey facemasks. They are a very good look. They blend in with the helmet without blocking the view of helmet like the off colored ones.

If NFL had to change all facemasks to same color. Grey would be my only choice.

Oh by the way.....the Redskins never need to change the nickname to appease the parties complaining about it. All they need to do is change the logo to a red hog or red wild hog. Fans dress up as Hogs already it would fit well. Just change the Chief profile in logo to a logo of a red hog. A good example of a red hog is the Rockford Icehogs. Check it out at www.icehogs.com

[Gothamite]

Nah, better to just change the name.

[oldschoolvikings]

Actually, if they wanna keep the name Redskins, they just need to put a potato on the side of their helmet...

Problem solved.

[John in KY]

Personally, I think the Bears should return to their yellow facemasks.

That's from the excellent helmethut.com, which is a great place to see what teams' helmets looked like back in the gray facemask days. That's what I was doing when I ran across Richie Petitbon's helmet shown above.

Of course, when Pettibon was actually wearing that lid the facemask looked like the one on this Gale Sayers replica (also from HelmetHut):

Pettibon's helmet had to have been hanging in a smokey bar for that white plastic mask to get that yellowed.

Regarding other teams - I really think the grey facemask works when it is a team color (see Raiders, Giants, and Cowboys - well, at least their navy/silver uniforms ). I always did like the yellow facemask on the 1974-1987 Chargers, and I also liked it at first on the Redskins, particularly with the Lombardi/Green Bay style uniforms. I also think the yellow mask worked better for the Redskins when they wore a plain/impregnated burgandy shell; I don't think it works as well on their current pearl finish shell.

[quantum]

I thin it is a case by case situation. What I find interesting is the idea that a gray facemask suits a team that uses silver or gray in the uniform. I think the Cowboys or Raiders would be better with a colored facemask, although they're OK as they are now.

[tajmccall]

Now i would support the bears going back to the plain white c, but i'm probably alone there.

[Blue Falcon]

The "that's the way they all used to be" argument doesn't hold up because we obviously had nothing to compare gray masks to back then. I can't imagine the Saints going with anything other than a black mask today, and think in general a color-coordinated mask looks better on most helmets.

Next let's argue chrome car bumpers vs. painted.

Agreed! Can you imagine if this message board existed back in the 1950s?? "That's the way it used to be" fans would want to go back to the good ol' days when no one wore a facemask to begin with...and they'd be whining about these new-fangled grey facemasks.

Facemasks should be part of the team's color scheme. The Colts look ridiculous in theirs, but the Giants look fine.

[Gothamite]

Nah, the only ones whining would be those complaining that the Cardinals hadn't adopted the new style.