Then and Now

[Hontas]

That is a great helmet. Colorado State should go to that version.

Packers should go back to the 1960s look.

[Gothamite]

What do you mean? Gray facemask, or the football-shaped "G"?

Helmet padding has sure come a long way.

To the detriment of the league, in my opinion.

I think a lot of the problems we're seeing with dementia are caused by the helmets providing just enough protection for players to not feel the short-term effects of their hits. They pass the consequences down the line, until they have cause irreprable brain damage.

Scott Simon said it best: "Modern polycarbonate helmets have let players weaponize their heads."

Adopt a rugby-style helmet, outlaw the 3-point stance, and just maybe players won't have to suffer so much in their later years for our amusement.

</soapbox>

[Harmening]

What do you mean? Gray facemask, or the football-shaped "G"?

Helmet padding has sure come a long way.

To the detriment of the league, in my opinion.

I think a lot of the problems we're seeing with dementia are caused by the helmets providing just enough protection for players to not feel the short-term effects of their hits. They pass the consequences down the line, until they have cause irreprable brain damage.

Scott Simon said it best: "Modern polycarbonate helmets have let players weaponize their heads."

Adopt a rugby-style helmet, outlaw the 3-point stance, and just maybe players won't have to suffer so much in their later years for our amusement.

</soapbox>

Aren't the cases of dementia being suffered by those who played in the league years ago, who wore the older style of helmets?

[Harmening]

Back in the day, this was my favorite for the Chargers.

[Gothamite]

Aren't the cases of dementia being suffered by those who played in the league years ago, who wore the older style of helmets?

The players studied were (IIRC) playing in the 1980s and 1990s.

But the point is that trying to amp up helmet protection won't actually solve the problem. Everybody's focused on reducing/eliminating concussions, but consussions are only part of the problem. Sub-concussive blows themselves can lead to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, which is what appears to be causing the dementia.

Simply adding padding to the helmet won't actually solve this. Decreasing the number of hits to the head will.

More padding encourages head hits by reducing the short-term impact (the player doesn't feel the hit on the field) without necessarily impacting the long-term. As I said, passing the consequences down the road.

Eliminating the 3-point stance is easy. That can be done overnight, and players will have all training camp to adjust. Reducing the size and style of helmets will be harder, but I think it'll have to be done.

[Harmening]

Aren't the cases of dementia being suffered by those who played in the league years ago, who wore the older style of helmets?

The players studied were (IIRC) playing in the 1980s and 1990s.

But the point is that trying to amp up helmet protection won't actually solve the problem. Everybody's focused on reducing/eliminating concussions, but consussions are only part of the problem. Sub-concussive blows themselves can lead to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, which is what appears to be causing the dementia.

Simply adding padding to the helmet won't actually solve this. Decreasing the number of hits to the head will.

More padding encourages head hits by reducing the short-term impact (the player doesn't feel the hit on the field) without necessarily impacting the long-term. As I said, passing the consequences down the road.

Eliminating the 3-point stance is easy. That can be done overnight, and players will have all training camp to adjust. Reducing the size and style of helmets will be harder, but I think it'll have to be done.

I think eliminating the 3 point stance would be a damn good start.

[infrared41]

Seattle's early sets are vastly underrated IMO:

BEAUTIFUL!! I loved when they made this switch (I believe in '83). The Seahawk logo wrapped around the arm, blue facemask... Just awesome. So much better than the scuba suits.

Sorry but I always found this look boring. The only thing keeping the Seahawks current look from stomping all over this is the fact that they insist on that blue monochrome look.

[BBTV]

Those Seahawks unis don't look horrible under natural light, but they looked drab and dull in the dome. The numbers sucked, up until they switched to the stitched ones that were a little more standard in the mid '90s. The sleeve would never translate onto a modern template, and the silver helmet / silver pants thing just isn't very unique. They're certainly not bad, but they're not great either. They're just kinda, well, there. While I understand why some don't like it, I think what they have now is perfect for them. I'm not sure how I feel about the navy pants vs. the slate blue (I think I prefer slate blue, but would have to see more of the navy), but overall it's a great set - especially when they wear the blue pants on the road.

[BlueSky]

Just for reference...shot this on my honeymoon in 2005:

[BBTV]

How bad would it suck to have those things growing out of your head? There was an episode of Buck Rogers years ago where Buck started growing horns, and I remember being afraid that one day I'd wake up and be able to feel the beginnings of horns growing out of my head.

[darkhaha]

I'm surprised at the popular dislike of the Chargers current set. I think it's a wonderfully cohesive look to bottom, and incorporates just the right level of yellow and powder blue in my opinion. I also think the new lightning bolt set against a contrast-colored background is a unique and classy look, and the helmet is a significant upgrade over the old one. I'd just like to see them get rid of the leotard look, get a white-on-white alternate look, and they'd have some of the very best in the NFL.

The Chargers haven't gone with the leotard look since they went to their current set.

And the current look is still a downgrade over everything that came before it.

You think so?

In '85 the Chargers tweaked the design shown above by darkening the blue in the jerseys (to match the helmets) and going with white pants. The result was their best set ever, IMHO:

In '86 they switched to white numbers on the blue jerseys, as shown in Harmening's post above...

Back in the day, this was my favorite for the Chargers.

[darkhaha]

Another shot of the Oilers' metallic blue:

I've always been partial to their previous iteration of the silver-blue, worn from '66-67, as I like the white stripes in between the red and the blue. If anyone can find a color pic of the home set, I'd love to see it!

Oddly enough (to me, anyway), after going to the red-blue-red striping pattern on both the helmets and pants from '68-69, some time around 1970 they started wearing the previous set's pants (red-white-blue-white-red striping), which was inconsistent with the newer helmet stripes:

[Harmening]

I'm surprised at the popular dislike of the Chargers current set. I think it's a wonderfully cohesive look to bottom, and incorporates just the right level of yellow and powder blue in my opinion. I also think the new lightning bolt set against a contrast-colored background is a unique and classy look, and the helmet is a significant upgrade over the old one. I'd just like to see them get rid of the leotard look, get a white-on-white alternate look, and they'd have some of the very best in the NFL.

The Chargers haven't gone with the leotard look since they went to their current set.

And the current look is still a downgrade over everything that came before it.

You think so?

In '85 the Chargers tweaked the design shown above by darkening the blue in the jerseys (to match the helmets) and going with white pants. The result was their best set ever, IMHO:

In '86 they switched to white numbers on the blue jerseys, as shown in Harmening's post above...

Back in the day, this was my favorite for the Chargers.

Now that I look at it again, I think I like the '85 version better, with the yellow numbers. Matches the lightning bolt.

[IceCap]

I'm surprised at the popular dislike of the Chargers current set. I think it's a wonderfully cohesive look to bottom, and incorporates just the right level of yellow and powder blue in my opinion. I also think the new lightning bolt set against a contrast-colored background is a unique and classy look, and the helmet is a significant upgrade over the old one. I'd just like to see them get rid of the leotard look, get a white-on-white alternate look, and they'd have some of the very best in the NFL.

The Chargers haven't gone with the leotard look since they went to their current set.

And the current look is still a downgrade over everything that came before it.

You think so?

In '85 the Chargers tweaked the design shown above by darkening the blue in the jerseys (to match the helmets) and going with white pants. The result was their best set ever, IMHO:

Take that look, give it navy facemasks, and add a white outline between the yellow bolt and the navy outline on the navy jerseys, and you have perfection.

[BBTV]

It's a pretty damn good look as is. I def wouldn'tl add that white outline, and I think I like the yellow facemask better, but I'd have to see it with navy. I guess in 2010, navy would be what they'd go with.

I'm torn about the pants though. It does look great with white pants, but I've always been partial to yellow pants - especially on the road. Somthing about dark-white-yellow really appeals to me.

[andrewharrington]

It's a pretty damn good look as is. I def wouldn'tl add that white outline, and I think I like the yellow facemask better, but I'd have to see it with navy. I guess in 2010, navy would be what they'd go with.

I'm torn about the pants though. It does look great with white pants, but I've always been partial to yellow pants - especially on the road. Somthing about dark-white-yellow really appeals to me.

I think the reasoning is that all the other bolts on both uniforms have two outlines. I'd prefer to ditch the white insert on the shoulders and go with just the bolt, like they did on their previous set.

[IceCap]

It's a pretty damn good look as is. I def wouldn'tl add that white outline, and I think I like the yellow facemask better, but I'd have to see it with navy. I guess in 2010, navy would be what they'd go with.

I'm torn about the pants though. It does look great with white pants, but I've always been partial to yellow pants - especially on the road. Somthing about dark-white-yellow really appeals to me.

I think the reasoning is that all the other bolts on both uniforms have two outlines.

Exactly. Every other bolt on the uniform has two outlines.

I'd prefer to ditch the white insert on the shoulders and go with just the bolt, like they did on their previous set.

I prefer the white insert, actually. It gives the navy jersey a little bit more of a "pop." That was my one complaint with the last set, the navy jersey was a little to plain. The white inserts add a little something to break up the navy.

[scottysprings]

It's a pretty damn good look as is. I def wouldn'tl add that white outline, and I think I like the yellow facemask better, but I'd have to see it with navy. I guess in 2010, navy would be what they'd go with.

I'm torn about the pants though. It does look great with white pants, but I've always been partial to yellow pants - especially on the road. Somthing about dark-white-yellow really appeals to me.

I think the reasoning is that all the other bolts on both uniforms have two outlines. I'd prefer to ditch the white insert on the shoulders and go with just the bolt, like they did on their previous set.

I think those are perfectly designed as they are. You can look at it as all the lighting bolts on the uniform have a consistent design- yellow bolt, navy first outline, white second outline. Whenever the lightning bolt is on a white background, the outermost white outline just blends in and looks like there's only one outline. This makes a lot more sense to me than adding another outline for the heck of it, kinda throws off the uniformity of the bolts. Additionally, whenever I look at something that is double outlined and the first outline is the same color as the medium upon which the logo appears, I look at the first outline as negative space and the second as an offset stroke. I'm not the only one who looks at it this way am I?

[IceCap]

It's a pretty damn good look as is. I def wouldn'tl add that white outline, and I think I like the yellow facemask better, but I'd have to see it with navy. I guess in 2010, navy would be what they'd go with.

I'm torn about the pants though. It does look great with white pants, but I've always been partial to yellow pants - especially on the road. Somthing about dark-white-yellow really appeals to me.

I think the reasoning is that all the other bolts on both uniforms have two outlines. I'd prefer to ditch the white insert on the shoulders and go with just the bolt, like they did on their previous set.

I think those are perfectly designed as they are. You can look at it as all the lighting bolts on the uniform have a consistent design- yellow bolt, navy first outline, white second outline. Whenever the lightning bolt is on a white background, the outermost white outline just blends in and looks like there's only one outline. This makes a lot more sense to me than adding another outline for the heck of it, kinda throws off the uniformity of the bolts. Additionally, whenever I look at something that is double outlined and the first outline is the same color as the medium upon which the logo appears, I look at the first outline as negative space and the second as an offset stroke. I'm not the only one who looks at it this way am I?

I get where you're coming from, but personally the lack of a double outline on the bolts on the navy jersey seems to throw the look off.

[darkhaha]

It's a pretty damn good look as is. I def wouldn'tl add that white outline, and I think I like the yellow facemask better, but I'd have to see it with navy. I guess in 2010, navy would be what they'd go with.

I'm torn about the pants though. It does look great with white pants, but I've always been partial to yellow pants - especially on the road. Somthing about dark-white-yellow really appeals to me.

I think the reasoning is that all the other bolts on both uniforms have two outlines. I'd prefer to ditch the white insert on the shoulders and go with just the bolt, like they did on their previous set.

Totally agree. With that tweak to the home jerseys these would be perfection.