Cowboys to possibly tweak uniforms

[andrewharrington]

Gak. The silver green is just an obnoxious tweak done to make the pants look more metallic on 1980s-vintage TVs, and that only worked under certain lighting. Go back to the original silver blue from the 60s/70s. and match it all up again. With modern fabrics the silver blue pants will truely be "silver blue" and they won't fade to odd purple-grey colors either.

The helmets first got "off" when so many players went to the MaxPro helmets that were painted on the inside of the clear shell (the shell also made the blue on the stripes and star logo look darker); the Cowboys just adopted that less blue/more silver shade with darker stripes/logos so the helmet was in-between the traditional white/silver blue uniforms and the navy/silver dark uniforms they adopted in 1981.

I've said for decades now - the Cowboys need to get off the fence and either go totally navy/silver (throw in a navy facemask while you're at it) or go back to the original metallic silver blue/dark royal blue color scheme of used from 1964-1980.

Interesting. What also may have contributed to the Silver-Blue of the helmets changing was the fact that for years, the Silver-Blue was a custom color - even after the NFL adopted Pantone colors as a standard around 1980 or so. Once "blended" metallic became available (mixing solid colors with the metallic bases) in the Pantone library around 1987, they picked a metallic that was close to the original, but not quite there.

The Cowboy helmet has gotten much less blue over the years, to the point where it's almost silverish gray. That will be a problem if they return to metallic blue pants, as hoped.

Another thing about the new pants: they need to be "matte" like the Giants and 49ers, not shiny and spandexy like we've seen in recent years.

I don't know. You can't compare two photos taken decades apart, one using film and other likely digital. Way too many variables. You want to prove this, you need a shot of an old Cowboys' helmet sitting next to a new Cowboys' helmet in the same lighting.

I have eyes. Do you seriously think the modern helmets look as blue as the one Bob Hayes is wearing? Even the guys at Helmet Hut have noticed:

The original distinctive Cowboy "silver blue" paint hue is still brilliantly evident (in subsequent years the team has virtually eliminated the blue tint from their official helmet color).

Of course Hayes' helmet looks bluer. What I'm saying, though, is you absolutely can not use that photo as reference because of how old it is and the fact that it was produced using the film process as opposed to the digital process. If you look closely, everything in the bottom photo is bluer. Look at the helmet stripe, the skin, the grass. Some of it probably has to do with the color of the sky reflecting off everything, which is exaggerated by the camera, but everything has a cool, desaturated look to it. You have to have the then and now helmets in the same frame to compare. It's not my opinion, it's fact. Look at this, for example: A 1973 Staubach helmet, which looks pretty darn grey to me.

[John in KY]

Gak. The silver green is just an obnoxious tweak done to make the pants look more metallic on 1980s-vintage TVs, and that only worked under certain lighting. Go back to the original silver blue from the 60s/70s. and match it all up again. With modern fabrics the silver blue pants will truely be "silver blue" and they won't fade to odd purple-grey colors either.

The helmets first got "off" when so many players went to the MaxPro helmets that were painted on the inside of the clear shell (the shell also made the blue on the stripes and star logo look darker); the Cowboys just adopted that less blue/more silver shade with darker stripes/logos so the helmet was in-between the traditional white/silver blue uniforms and the navy/silver dark uniforms they adopted in 1981.

I've said for decades now - the Cowboys need to get off the fence and either go totally navy/silver (throw in a navy facemask while you're at it) or go back to the original metallic silver blue/dark royal blue color scheme of used from 1964-1980.

Interesting. What also may have contributed to the Silver-Blue of the helmets changing was the fact that for years, the Silver-Blue was a custom color - even after the NFL adopted Pantone colors as a standard around 1980 or so. Once "blended" metallic became available (mixing solid colors with the metallic bases) in the Pantone library around 1987, they picked a metallic that was close to the original, but not quite there.

The Cowboy helmet has gotten much less blue over the years, to the point where it's almost silverish gray. That will be a problem if they return to metallic blue pants, as hoped.

Another thing about the new pants: they need to be "matte" like the Giants and 49ers, not shiny and spandexy like we've seen in recent years.

I don't know. You can't compare two photos taken decades apart, one using film and other likely digital. Way too many variables. You want to prove this, you need a shot of an old Cowboys' helmet sitting next to a new Cowboys' helmet in the same lighting.

I have eyes. Do you seriously think the modern helmets look as blue as the one Bob Hayes is wearing? Even the guys at Helmet Hut have noticed:

The original distinctive Cowboy "silver blue" paint hue is still brilliantly evident (in subsequent years the team has virtually eliminated the blue tint from their official helmet color).

Of course Hayes' helmet looks bluer. What I'm saying, though, is you absolutely can not use that photo as reference because of how old it is and the fact that it was produced using the film process as opposed to the digital process. If you look closely, everything in the bottom photo is bluer. Look at the helmet stripe, the skin, the grass. Some of it probably has to do with the color of the sky reflecting off everything, which is exaggerated by the camera, but everything has a cool, desaturated look to it. You have to have the then and now helmets in the same frame to compare. It's not my opinion, it's fact. Look at this, for example: A 1973 Staubach helmet, which looks pretty darn grey to me.

I believe that helmet was never worn because Staubach moved to the Maxpro helmet that year (actually that helmet was still made by "Marietta" in 1973; they went bankrupt and were reorganized as "Maxpro" in either 1974 or 1975).

Of course this one is pretty yellowed with age, but see how blue Jethro Pugh's '68 game used helmet was (also from HelmetHut):

But look how grey Charilie Waters Maxpro looks:

[BrandMooreArt]

Andrew is right but on top of his points, you are using a picture that is on the cover of Sports Illustrated....nothing on the cover of a magazine is completley "real"

[slats7]

Gak. The silver green is just an obnoxious tweak done to make the pants look more metallic on 1980s-vintage TVs, and that only worked under certain lighting. Go back to the original silver blue from the 60s/70s. and match it all up again. With modern fabrics the silver blue pants will truely be "silver blue" and they won't fade to odd purple-grey colors either.

The helmets first got "off" when so many players went to the MaxPro helmets that were painted on the inside of the clear shell (the shell also made the blue on the stripes and star logo look darker); the Cowboys just adopted that less blue/more silver shade with darker stripes/logos so the helmet was in-between the traditional white/silver blue uniforms and the navy/silver dark uniforms they adopted in 1981.

I've said for decades now - the Cowboys need to get off the fence and either go totally navy/silver (throw in a navy facemask while you're at it) or go back to the original metallic silver blue/dark royal blue color scheme of used from 1964-1980.

Interesting. What also may have contributed to the Silver-Blue of the helmets changing was the fact that for years, the Silver-Blue was a custom color - even after the NFL adopted Pantone colors as a standard around 1980 or so. Once "blended" metallic became available (mixing solid colors with the metallic bases) in the Pantone library around 1987, they picked a metallic that was close to the original, but not quite there.

The Cowboy helmet has gotten much less blue over the years, to the point where it's almost silverish gray. That will be a problem if they return to metallic blue pants, as hoped.

Another thing about the new pants: they need to be "matte" like the Giants and 49ers, not shiny and spandexy like we've seen in recent years.

I don't know. You can't compare two photos taken decades apart, one using film and other likely digital. Way too many variables. You want to prove this, you need a shot of an old Cowboys' helmet sitting next to a new Cowboys' helmet in the same lighting.

I have eyes. Do you seriously think the modern helmets look as blue as the one Bob Hayes is wearing? Even the guys at Helmet Hut have noticed:

The original distinctive Cowboy "silver blue" paint hue is still brilliantly evident (in subsequent years the team has virtually eliminated the blue tint from their official helmet color).

Of course Hayes' helmet looks bluer. What I'm saying, though, is you absolutely can not use that photo as reference because of how old it is and the fact that it was produced using the film process as opposed to the digital process. If you look closely, everything in the bottom photo is bluer. Look at the helmet stripe, the skin, the grass. Some of it probably has to do with the color of the sky reflecting off everything, which is exaggerated by the camera, but everything has a cool, desaturated look to it. You have to have the then and now helmets in the same frame to compare. It's not my opinion, it's fact. Look at this, for example: A 1973 Staubach helmet, which looks pretty darn grey to me.

The Hayes pic was taken in 1965 or 1966, so the helmets had eight years or so to get progressively less blue. Here's a Meredith pic from around the same era (mid 1960s). This is the pants color they should return to, IMHO.

The Cowboys' pants were noticeably darker (almost charcoal grey) from 1970 to 1973.

In 1974, they returned to metallic blue:

[andrewharrington]

I don't doubt your knowledge on the subject, and having seen actual specimens of 60s-70s era Cowboys' lids, I can attest that the color seemed to be bluer back in those days, but no matter how you slice it, you can't use a series of photographs, even now in this day and age, to show a color change due to the inherent differences in the equipment, settings, lighting, etc.

For example, if you were trying to show me the difference in the red the Cardinals used from one year to the next, you can't really rely on photos of separate games because they may have been playing under an overcast sky in the one photo, and then playing under bright sun in the other. Two different domes' lights might cast a vastly different temperature or tone on the uniforms as well, so even two separate indoor photos can't be counted on to prove anything.

What you can do is compare two items within the same photograph, say, the Cowboys' helmet color as compared to their pant color. A good example, if you look at a picture of these Cardinals jerseys, you can clearly see that the numerals are a darker red color than the stripes on their jerseys or the cardinal decal on the helmet. That sort of comparison is valid.

[slats7]

I don't doubt your knowledge on the subject, and having seen actual specimens of 60s-70s era Cowboys' lids, I can attest that the color seemed to be bluer back in those days, but no matter how you slice it, you can't use a series of photographs, even now in this day and age, to show a color change due to the inherent differences in the equipment, settings, lighting, etc.

For example, if you were trying to show me the difference in the red the Cardinals used from one year to the next, you can't really rely on photos of separate games because they may have been playing under an overcast sky in the one photo, and then playing under bright sun in the other. Two different domes' lights might cast a vastly different temperature or tone on the uniforms as well, so even two separate indoor photos can't be counted on to prove anything.

What you can do is compare two items within the same photograph, say, the Cowboys' helmet color as compared to their pant color. A good example, if you look at a picture of these Cardinals jerseys, you can clearly see that the numerals are a darker red color than the stripes on their jerseys or the cardinal decal on the helmet. That sort of comparison is valid.

Well, I can provide tens of photos in all sorts of lighting conditions which prove that the pants started out blue, got grayer for three or four years, then blue again. I also find it interesting that you doubt the Hayes photo, which shows "two items within the same photograph," yet swear by the Dobler one.

[BrandMooreArt]

I don't doubt your knowledge on the subject, and having seen actual specimens of 60s-70s era Cowboys' lids, I can attest that the color seemed to be bluer back in those days, but no matter how you slice it, you can't use a series of photographs, even now in this day and age, to show a color change due to the inherent differences in the equipment, settings, lighting, etc.

For example, if you were trying to show me the difference in the red the Cardinals used from one year to the next, you can't really rely on photos of separate games because they may have been playing under an overcast sky in the one photo, and then playing under bright sun in the other. Two different domes' lights might cast a vastly different temperature or tone on the uniforms as well, so even two separate indoor photos can't be counted on to prove anything.

What you can do is compare two items within the same photograph, say, the Cowboys' helmet color as compared to their pant color. A good example, if you look at a picture of these Cardinals jerseys, you can clearly see that the numerals are a darker red color than the stripes on their jerseys or the cardinal decal on the helmet. That sort of comparison is valid.

Well, I can provide tens of photos in all sorts of lighting conditions which prove that the pants started out blue, got grayer for three or four years, then blue again. I also find it interesting that you doubt the Hayes photo, which shows "two items within the same photograph," yet swear by the Dobler one.

forgive me if i missed this, but i think Andrews point is the difference in cameras then and now will undoubtedly alter the colors, if only slightly. point being you cant take a photograph as 100% "real" color. theres no doubt you are right about the colors changing over the years, but to what degree is debatable while only using photographs. to compare a picture taken in the 60s/70s to a recent photo on the cover of a magazine (where nothing is real) viewing each on an RGB monitor (has yours been calibrated recently? Macbooks come from the store with a blue tint...) is not the same as seeing each in real life

[Gothamite]

forgive me if i missed this, but i think Andrews point is the difference in cameras then and now will undoubtedly alter the colors, if only slightly. point being you cant take a photograph as 100% "real" color. theres no doubt you are right about the colors changing over the years, but to what degree is debatable while only using photographs. to compare a picture taken in the 60s/70s to a recent photo on the cover of a magazine (where nothing is real) viewing each on an RGB monitor (has yours been calibrated recently? Macbooks come from the store with a blue tint...) is not the same as seeing each in real life

True enough. Photographs lie, especially when you're comparing photographs taken decades apart under vastly different conditions and with different equipment.

[jimbojohnny56]

I think the Cowgirls should change to a silver pink!

[02Rover]

I like it the way it is, inconsistent or not.

Im with you. I think its cool. Its unique and part of thier look, which is one of the very best looks in the NFL.

[ONUV]

green pants are alive and well

[TruColor]

green pants are alive and well

I'm guessing any changes wouldn't happen for at least a season or two.

[andrewharrington]

I don't doubt your knowledge on the subject, and having seen actual specimens of 60s-70s era Cowboys' lids, I can attest that the color seemed to be bluer back in those days, but no matter how you slice it, you can't use a series of photographs, even now in this day and age, to show a color change due to the inherent differences in the equipment, settings, lighting, etc.

For example, if you were trying to show me the difference in the red the Cardinals used from one year to the next, you can't really rely on photos of separate games because they may have been playing under an overcast sky in the one photo, and then playing under bright sun in the other. Two different domes' lights might cast a vastly different temperature or tone on the uniforms as well, so even two separate indoor photos can't be counted on to prove anything.

What you can do is compare two items within the same photograph, say, the Cowboys' helmet color as compared to their pant color. A good example, if you look at a picture of these Cardinals jerseys, you can clearly see that the numerals are a darker red color than the stripes on their jerseys or the cardinal decal on the helmet. That sort of comparison is valid.

Well, I can provide tens of photos in all sorts of lighting conditions which prove that the pants started out blue, got grayer for three or four years, then blue again. I also find it interesting that you doubt the Hayes photo, which shows "two items within the same photograph," yet swear by the Dobler one.

The problem is, you're trying to compare things from two different photos. You can't do that. You can compare the color of Bob Hayes' helmet to his pants in a single photo and make a conclusion: say, for that specific season, the Cowboys' pants were noticeably grayer or bluer than the helmet. Fine. However, you can't then bring in a photo from the next season and say that the pants from 1967 were grayer or bluer than the pants from 1966 with any sort of certainty. Maybe they got a slightly different paint mix at the Riddell factory that year. Maybe a different guy was spraying them or mixing the color in a different way. Maybe the entire process changed. There's no frame of reference unless you have an old helmet sitting next to a new one, or some old pants sitting next to some new ones. Again, maybe they were exactly as you allege, but photos are not a reliable source for color comparison. Too many variables.

Conversely, in this photo of Dobler, because the comparison I'm making is between two items in the same photo (the red ink used to print the numbers is darker than the red ink used to print the sleeve stripes and the helmet decal) it is perfectly valid. I could not, however, bring in a photo from the season before and say with any certainty that the red was lighter or darker. I could assume, but it wouldn't be verifiable in any way.

To compare the color of two items, you have to either have physical samples, or you have to have a single photo with both items in the frame.

[LMU]

Would it be so difficult to at least use the alternate pants?

[Swampee]

Gak. The silver green is just an obnoxious tweak done to make the pants look more metallic on 1980s-vintage TVs, and that only worked under certain lighting. Go back to the original silver blue from the 60s/70s. and match it all up again. With modern fabrics the silver blue pants will truely be "silver blue" and they won't fade to odd purple-grey colors either.

The helmets first got "off" when so many players went to the MaxPro helmets that were painted on the inside of the clear shell (the shell also made the blue on the stripes and star logo look darker); the Cowboys just adopted that less blue/more silver shade with darker stripes/logos so the helmet was in-between the traditional white/silver blue uniforms and the navy/silver dark uniforms they adopted in 1981.

I've said for decades now - the Cowboys need to get off the fence and either go totally navy/silver (throw in a navy facemask while you're at it) or go back to the original metallic silver blue/dark royal blue color scheme of used from 1964-1980.

Interesting. What also may have contributed to the Silver-Blue of the helmets changing was the fact that for years, the Silver-Blue was a custom color - even after the NFL adopted Pantone colors as a standard around 1980 or so. Once "blended" metallic became available (mixing solid colors with the metallic bases) in the Pantone library around 1987, they picked a metallic that was close to the original, but not quite there.

The Cowboy helmet has gotten much less blue over the years, to the point where it's almost silverish gray. That will be a problem if they return to metallic blue pants, as hoped.

Another thing about the new pants: they need to be "matte" like the Giants and 49ers, not shiny and spandexy like we've seen in recent years.

I don't know. You can't compare two photos taken decades apart, one using film and other likely digital. Way too many variables. You want to prove this, you need a shot of an old Cowboys' helmet sitting next to a new Cowboys' helmet in the same lighting.

I have eyes. Do you seriously think the modern helmets look as blue as the one Bob Hayes is wearing? Even the guys at Helmet Hut have noticed:

The original distinctive Cowboy "silver blue" paint hue is still brilliantly evident (in subsequent years the team has virtually eliminated the blue tint from their official helmet color).

Of course Hayes' helmet looks bluer. What I'm saying, though, is you absolutely can not use that photo as reference because of how old it is and the fact that it was produced using the film process as opposed to the digital process. If you look closely, everything in the bottom photo is bluer. Look at the helmet stripe, the skin, the grass. Some of it probably has to do with the color of the sky reflecting off everything, which is exaggerated by the camera, but everything has a cool, desaturated look to it. You have to have the then and now helmets in the same frame to compare. It's not my opinion, it's fact. Look at this, for example: A 1973 Staubach helmet, which looks pretty darn grey to me.

I believe that helmet was never worn because Staubach moved to the Maxpro helmet that year (actually that helmet was still made by "Marietta" in 1973; they went bankrupt and were reorganized as "Maxpro" in either 1974 or 1975).

Of course this one is pretty yellowed with age, but see how blue Jethro Pugh's '68 game used helmet was (also from HelmetHut):

But look how grey Charilie Waters Maxpro looks:

Would it make a difference that two different companies (Maxpro & Riddell) painting those two different helmets with two different pigment paints?

[dennisbergan]

I like it the way it is, inconsistent or not.

Im with you. I think its cool. Its unique and part of thier look, which is one of the very best looks in the NFL.

Yes, having colors that don't match are really cool.

The 'Boys uniforms suck and are cheap looking.

[andrewharrington]

Gak. The silver green is just an obnoxious tweak done to make the pants look more metallic on 1980s-vintage TVs, and that only worked under certain lighting. Go back to the original silver blue from the 60s/70s. and match it all up again. With modern fabrics the silver blue pants will truely be "silver blue" and they won't fade to odd purple-grey colors either.

The helmets first got "off" when so many players went to the MaxPro helmets that were painted on the inside of the clear shell (the shell also made the blue on the stripes and star logo look darker); the Cowboys just adopted that less blue/more silver shade with darker stripes/logos so the helmet was in-between the traditional white/silver blue uniforms and the navy/silver dark uniforms they adopted in 1981.

I've said for decades now - the Cowboys need to get off the fence and either go totally navy/silver (throw in a navy facemask while you're at it) or go back to the original metallic silver blue/dark royal blue color scheme of used from 1964-1980.

Interesting. What also may have contributed to the Silver-Blue of the helmets changing was the fact that for years, the Silver-Blue was a custom color - even after the NFL adopted Pantone colors as a standard around 1980 or so. Once "blended" metallic became available (mixing solid colors with the metallic bases) in the Pantone library around 1987, they picked a metallic that was close to the original, but not quite there.

The Cowboy helmet has gotten much less blue over the years, to the point where it's almost silverish gray. That will be a problem if they return to metallic blue pants, as hoped.

Another thing about the new pants: they need to be "matte" like the Giants and 49ers, not shiny and spandexy like we've seen in recent years.

I don't know. You can't compare two photos taken decades apart, one using film and other likely digital. Way too many variables. You want to prove this, you need a shot of an old Cowboys' helmet sitting next to a new Cowboys' helmet in the same lighting.

I have eyes. Do you seriously think the modern helmets look as blue as the one Bob Hayes is wearing? Even the guys at Helmet Hut have noticed:

The original distinctive Cowboy "silver blue" paint hue is still brilliantly evident (in subsequent years the team has virtually eliminated the blue tint from their official helmet color).

Of course Hayes' helmet looks bluer. What I'm saying, though, is you absolutely can not use that photo as reference because of how old it is and the fact that it was produced using the film process as opposed to the digital process. If you look closely, everything in the bottom photo is bluer. Look at the helmet stripe, the skin, the grass. Some of it probably has to do with the color of the sky reflecting off everything, which is exaggerated by the camera, but everything has a cool, desaturated look to it. You have to have the then and now helmets in the same frame to compare. It's not my opinion, it's fact. Look at this, for example: A 1973 Staubach helmet, which looks pretty darn grey to me.

I believe that helmet was never worn because Staubach moved to the Maxpro helmet that year (actually that helmet was still made by "Marietta" in 1973; they went bankrupt and were reorganized as "Maxpro" in either 1974 or 1975).

Of course this one is pretty yellowed with age, but see how blue Jethro Pugh's '68 game used helmet was (also from HelmetHut):

But look how grey Charilie Waters Maxpro looks:

Would it make a difference that two different companies (Maxpro & Riddell) painting those two different helmets with two different pigment paints?

Exactly. Just one of the many variables that makes using separate photographs to compare colors unreliable. In the same vein, even today, Michigan's Riddell helmets are painted using a pre-cut template for the wing shape, while the wings on their Schutt helmets are formed by an old man who eyeballs it and shapes each wing by hand with tape.

[John in KY]

Gak. The silver green is just an obnoxious tweak done to make the pants look more metallic on 1980s-vintage TVs, and that only worked under certain lighting. Go back to the original silver blue from the 60s/70s. and match it all up again. With modern fabrics the silver blue pants will truely be "silver blue" and they won't fade to odd purple-grey colors either.

The helmets first got "off" when so many players went to the MaxPro helmets that were painted on the inside of the clear shell (the shell also made the blue on the stripes and star logo look darker); the Cowboys just adopted that less blue/more silver shade with darker stripes/logos so the helmet was in-between the traditional white/silver blue uniforms and the navy/silver dark uniforms they adopted in 1981.

I've said for decades now - the Cowboys need to get off the fence and either go totally navy/silver (throw in a navy facemask while you're at it) or go back to the original metallic silver blue/dark royal blue color scheme of used from 1964-1980.

Interesting. What also may have contributed to the Silver-Blue of the helmets changing was the fact that for years, the Silver-Blue was a custom color - even after the NFL adopted Pantone colors as a standard around 1980 or so. Once "blended" metallic became available (mixing solid colors with the metallic bases) in the Pantone library around 1987, they picked a metallic that was close to the original, but not quite there.

The Cowboy helmet has gotten much less blue over the years, to the point where it's almost silverish gray. That will be a problem if they return to metallic blue pants, as hoped.

Another thing about the new pants: they need to be "matte" like the Giants and 49ers, not shiny and spandexy like we've seen in recent years.

I don't know. You can't compare two photos taken decades apart, one using film and other likely digital. Way too many variables. You want to prove this, you need a shot of an old Cowboys' helmet sitting next to a new Cowboys' helmet in the same lighting.

I have eyes. Do you seriously think the modern helmets look as blue as the one Bob Hayes is wearing? Even the guys at Helmet Hut have noticed:

The original distinctive Cowboy "silver blue" paint hue is still brilliantly evident (in subsequent years the team has virtually eliminated the blue tint from their official helmet color).

Of course Hayes' helmet looks bluer. What I'm saying, though, is you absolutely can not use that photo as reference because of how old it is and the fact that it was produced using the film process as opposed to the digital process. If you look closely, everything in the bottom photo is bluer. Look at the helmet stripe, the skin, the grass. Some of it probably has to do with the color of the sky reflecting off everything, which is exaggerated by the camera, but everything has a cool, desaturated look to it. You have to have the then and now helmets in the same frame to compare. It's not my opinion, it's fact. Look at this, for example: A 1973 Staubach helmet, which looks pretty darn grey to me.

I believe that helmet was never worn because Staubach moved to the Maxpro helmet that year (actually that helmet was still made by "Marietta" in 1973; they went bankrupt and were reorganized as "Maxpro" in either 1974 or 1975).

Of course this one is pretty yellowed with age, but see how blue Jethro Pugh's '68 game used helmet was (also from HelmetHut):

But look how grey Charilie Waters Maxpro looks:

Would it make a difference that two different companies (Maxpro & Riddell) painting those two different helmets with two different pigment paints?

Exactly. Just one of the many variables that makes using separate photographs to compare colors unreliable. In the same vein, even today, Michigan's Riddell helmets are painted using a pre-cut template for the wing shape, while the wings on their Schutt helmets are formed by an old man who eyeballs it and shapes each wing by hand with tape.

I didn't know the Riddell helmets were painted using a template; I thought that all Michigan helmets were hand painted by the same person (who is still doing the Schutt helmets for them).

Not only were the paints used by Riddell and Maxpro back in those days likely different but the old Maxpro helmets were painted on the inside of the shell instead of the outside; the shells were called "clear" but they actually have a bit of slight bluish-grey tint to them (as do the Macgregor/Kelley helmets). Somewhere out there is a photo of the University of Alabama (Macgregor users at the time) from the early 70s were they were wearing white helmets on the road. Since they were clear shells they looked slightly blue/grey.

[-(dp)-]

Andrew is definitely right. In that Hayes photo, not only does the silver look very blue, but everything does, even the whites. Color balance it (at least to the best of my abilities at 2 am), and the two look much closer:

as opposed to the original:

[BlueSky]

It continues to astound me that teams belonging to a multi-billion dollar enterprise with the popularity and resources of the NFL aren't more concerned with their visual identities, especially in the HD age.