Then and Now

[Varsity Blue]

Nooooooooooooo...you aren't supposed to say the new Falcons duds are better!!!

I figured someone would have to jump on that!

But, yeah, the newer version is better than that cookie-cutter Bartkowski outfit.

[Quillz]

I kind of wish the Packers stuck with green facemasks. It would have complemented the yellow helmets even more.

[oldschoolvikings]

I kind of wish the Packers stuck with green facemasks. It would have complemented the yellow helmets even more.

Um... hello?

[oldschoolvikings]

Nooooooooooooo...you aren't supposed to say the new Falcons duds are better!!!

I figured someone would have to jump on that!

But, yeah, the newer version is better than that cookie-cutter Bartkowski outfit.

Yeah, uh, NO.

Hey, does anybody have a decent color shot of the Rams in the gold jersey from the 50's?

[vmd9]

I kind of wish the Packers stuck with green facemasks. It would have complemented the yellow helmets even more.

Um... hello?

I can't believe no one has thought about the packers using green facemasks again?! it's an amazing idea hahahaha

[vmd9]

Nooooooooooooo...you aren't supposed to say the new Falcons duds are better!!!

I figured someone would have to jump on that!

But, yeah, the newer version is better than that cookie-cutter Bartkowski outfit.

New ones are way better! especially the all-black, which they never wear anymore

[Brave-Bird 08]

I kind of wish the Packers stuck with green facemasks. It would have complemented the yellow helmets even more.

Um... hello?

anyone know when the Steelers are going to drop orange? I kind of liked the simplicity of gold and black

[infrared41]

I kind of wish the Packers stuck with green facemasks. It would have complemented the yellow helmets even more.

Um... hello?

anyone know when the Steelers are going to drop orange? I kind of liked the simplicity of gold and black

Since we're on the subject... You know what else might be kinda cool? If The Bengals tried to incorporate some sort of tiger stripes on their helmets.

[BlueSky]

That's a great photo - I'll have to update my blog post on the subject.

Hey, great blog. Nicely done.

When I saw this...

...I thought of this, which I'd seen during my searches. Didn't post it because it's tougher to see the masks. Weird, Taylor's & Starr's masks look green (but it's hard to tell), but Kramer's looks brown in the bottom photo.

As for the Rams' gold jerseys, haven't seen those that I recall. If I see one I'll post it.

There's not a lot of color from the '50s, but there are some of this scheme, and to me the colors are fantastic. Hate to admit that I didn't know enough of Rams' uni history to appreciate the Dickerson-era unis at the time. Personally I like the old colors better. Though it's tough to tell for certain from old photos, both seem a bit darker to me.

[John in KY]

That's a great photo - I'll have to update my blog post on the subject.

Hey, great blog. Nicely done.

When I saw this...

...I thought of this, which I'd seen during my searches. Didn't post it because it's tougher to see the masks. Weird, Taylor's & Starr's masks look green (but it's hard to tell), but Kramer's looks brown in the bottom photo.

Yep, Kramer's mask is brown. It wasn't a "style" thing; that was evidently the color of the natural rubber (think of old rubber bands) Schutt used to coat cage masks before they used grey synthetic rubber. And the gray has changed over the years from pretty dark to kind of a bluish-grey to the current lighter grey. Here's an old Schutt "cow-catcher" mask with the brown rubber coating:

Here is a later grey cow-catcher like the one Namath wore at the end of his career (in both NY and LA):

[Gothamite]

Hey, does anybody have a decent color shot of the Rams in the gold jersey from the 50's?

Not an action photo, but here's a jersey from the Hall of Fame:

Don't know when the Rams added the unnecessary white outline - most of the photos I have seen are blue numbers on gold:

And a Lon Keller painting of the gold Rams:

That's a great look - the Rams have such great looks in their past.

[Quillz]

Man, I really miss those old Rams uniforms. The 70s-90s era blue on yellow looked nice, too. Either combination is a lot nicer than the darker St. Louis colors, I think. I also liked the long-sleeved jerseys.

[TFoA]

The best thing about those Rams uniforms? The freakin' Ram horn goes all the way down to the edge of the helmet. It isn't like what they had in the 70's-90's era & on the throwback where the ram horn just randomly starts out of nowhere. It's always been my #1 pet peeve about those 70's-90's Rams uniforms. The one's from the old days are just beautiful though, especially the gold jerseys. If one team could pull that look off, it was the Rams from back then.

This is a great thread.

[BlueSky]

The best thing about those Rams uniforms? The freakin' Ram horn goes all the way down to the edge of the helmet. It isn't like what they had in the 70's-90's era & on the throwback where the ram horn just randomly starts out of nowhere. It's always been my #1 pet peeve about those 70's-90's Rams uniforms. The one's from the old days are just beautiful though, especially the gold jerseys. If one team could pull that look off, it was the Rams from back then.

This is a great thread.

Like this? That always annoyed me too. Looks ridiculous. Or do real rams' horns levitate above their heads?

At least they fixed it now:

I find it interesting that the first design used on a helmet is also one of the best ever. Whatever the colors are, it's striking, is a outstanding illustration for the team nickname, and is perfectly suited for use on a helmet.

[Gothamite]

True enough. The horns are inspired.

Although I prefer this version:

It's always read better to my eye than the smooth, bland crescents:

[Buster]

Wow - those old Ram horns look great with a modern uniform.

[BBTV]

New Ram horns > old Ram horns. By a lot. It's a shame that as time goes by, helmet shapes will continue to change, and the time could come where it's not practical to have a design like that.

BTW - are the horns still painted on? Or did they switch to decals at some point?

[Gothamite]

They're decals now, but I don't know when they switched.

I'd argue that the crescents are less adaptable to new helmet technology - they don't even fit on some of the helmets.

The smaller, knotty horns don't loop down as far, don't take up as much of the helmet "canvas" and won't be either buried in straps and clips, obscured by the masks or cut off by the very outline of the shell.

[Gothamite]

While looking for earlier Rams helmets to figure out when they went to decals, I found this.

This is one of the reasons I prefer the shorter "knobby horns":

They've had to cut parts of the horn decal out to make it fit on the helmet. Not only around the mask, but around the chinstrap snaps.

This is just embarrassing:

Something's just not right there. The horn ought to be one uninterrupted curve, but that curve is always broken by the helmet construction.

The current horn is a great design that didn't survive the transition to modern helmets. Like sleeve stripes, it is an anachronism that really ought to be addressed.

[Harmening]

Helmet padding has sure come a long way.