Bills confirm new uniform for 2011

[DeFrank]

I think the difference in the NFL is that the helmet is a large part of the team brand, it's equivalent to a secondary logo. It's why each NFL team can only have one helmet design.

And the facemask is part of that logo -- so the color should be uniform and signficant. It's not just a trivial piece of equipment. Other player equipment, such as a chin strap, is not held to that standard.

Well put. On Draft Day, you usually don't see a teams table with a shoulder pad display, but you do see a helmet.

[oldschoolvikings]

I think the difference in the NFL is that the helmet is a large part of the team brand, it's equivalent to a secondary logo. It's why each NFL team can only have one helmet design.

And the facemask is part of that logo -- so the color should be uniform and signficant. It's not just a trivial piece of equipment. Other player equipment, such as a chin strap, is not held to that standard.

Interesting you should bring up the chinstrap. You know, they do produce chinstraps in a variety of colors, so if they wanted, a team could color-coordinate the chinstrap to the reast of the uniform. IIRC, the NFL forbids this in the uniform code. Why? I assume its because they consider the chinstrap to be just a piece of equipment, not part of the uniform.

(Just adding to the fire. I'm not even sure I agree with icecap's premise, but I do enjoy a good row)

[UnclearInitial]

The thing with hockey cages is that not every player wears them. A much more appropriate argument would be hockey helmets. Everybody wears them, and I don't really consider it part of the uniform, yet they're color coordinated. Therefore facemasks should also be color coordinated.

[_RH_]

As a hockey player, I think the cage is typically colored silver/black because it gives the best visibility. I wouldn't want a bright red or blue etc. color 3" from my eyes distracting me from the puck.

[FiddySicks]

I like orange facemasks. I think everyone should wear orange facemasks.

[tBBP]

Just got this email from the Bills official site: Friday June 24 it is.

Has Bank Gothic become Buffalo's new go-to font or something? First the Sabres, now the Bills.

[Krona]

Final word on grey facemask argument. team want a old school look, team uses grey facemask. done. no argument. thats what their intention is. you cant argue intention. unless youre the cardinals, then youre stupid.(on that note, i think they cards could easily incorporate grey into their set. the used to wear grey pants. it can work.)

[andrewharrington]

The helmet is part of the uniform; it's more then a piece of equipment. Why does it follow that the facemaks has to be part of the uniform as well? Like I pointed out, most cages in ice hockey are neutral colours. They could colour-code them to match uniforms, but they don't. Why? While the helmet or goalie mask may be part of the uniform, the cage itself isn't. It's just a piece of equipment. The same thing can be said for facemasks in football.

Because it's mounted on the helmet? Hey, just a guess. You know, the same reason the grille is part of a car?

And the grille is usually, silver, grey or black, regardless of what the color scheme of the car is.

[andrewharrington]

As a hockey player, I think the cage is typically colored silver/black because it gives the best visibility. I wouldn't want a bright red or blue etc. color 3" from my eyes distracting me from the puck.

Pretty sure the same thing would apply in football, no?

[guest23]

I think the difference in the NFL is that the helmet is a large part of the team brand, it's equivalent to a secondary logo. It's why each NFL team can only have one helmet design.

And the facemask is part of that logo -- so the color should be uniform and signficant. It's not just a trivial piece of equipment. Other player equipment, such as a chin strap, is not held to that standard.

Interesting you should bring up the chinstrap. You know, they do produce chinstraps in a variety of colors, so if they wanted, a team could color-coordinate the chinstrap to the reast of the uniform. IIRC, the NFL forbids this in the uniform code. Why? I assume its because they consider the chinstrap to be just a piece of equipment, not part of the uniform.

(Just adding to the fire. I'm not even sure I agree with icecap's premise, but I do enjoy a good row)

I'm assuming that there's a white chin strap rule in for some reason which I have no idea as to why...back in the 90's the hard plastic chin straps often had the shell in the team color...I also remember jerome bettis and james stewart of the jags had all black chin straps for a season while the rest of the team wore white...those seemed to disappear quickly as I think the nfl thought it was way too out of control but for some reason ncaa using colored chin straps has not caused the end of the world...the one recent colored chin strap that has sprung on the nfl as of late is the recent annual pink washing campaign where the all white rule is ignored.

[infrared41]

The helmet is part of the uniform; it's more then a piece of equipment. Why does it follow that the facemaks has to be part of the uniform as well? Like I pointed out, most cages in ice hockey are neutral colours. They could colour-code them to match uniforms, but they don't. Why? While the helmet or goalie mask may be part of the uniform, the cage itself isn't. It's just a piece of equipment. The same thing can be said for facemasks in football.

Because it's mounted on the helmet? Hey, just a guess. You know, the same reason the grille is part of a car?

And the grille is usually, silver, grey or black, regardless of what the color scheme of the car is.

I know very little about chess BlueSky, but I think Andrew just took your queen.

[BlueSky]

I'd argue that helmets became a de facto part of football uniforms when Fred Gehrke* painted horns on his.

Can't agree - while Gehrke popularlized helmet logos in the pros, teams had been wearing matching helmets for at least a decade.

But the overall point that helmets are part of the uniform is still valid regardless of exactly when it occurred.

The helmet is part of the uniform, no one's questioning that. The facemask isn't necessarily part of the uniform, however.

Go back to the hockey goalie. The mask is part of the uniform, yes, but is the cage on the mask part of the uniform? No. They're usually silver, white, or black. Neutral colours because they're pieces of the equipment, not part of the uniform that has to be colour-coded. Another hockey example would be cages on player helmets. You see these cages all the time when minors and women play, and you see if from time to time in the NHL when a player wants to protect his face to let an injury heal. These cages are by and large black or silver. The helmet is part of the uniform, hence why it's coloured to match the sweater, pants, and socks. The cage, however, is just a piece of equipment. It's almost always black or silver, and in rare cases white, regardless of what the team's colour scheme is. It's technically part of the helmet, which is a piece of the uniform, but it's not a piece of the uniform itself.

The same can easily be said about facemasks in football.

These masks are bare metal while football facemasks have a rubberized coating that can be colored. I'm not saying they can't or couldn't do the same but these particular cages don't seem like a good example of ones that could be easily colored because of the metal surface. The black ones are likely powder coated.

[Jezus_Ghoti]

Has the grey facemask argument reached the point where guys are passionately arguing just about gray facemasks' right to exist? Seems like we're close.

I like to look at it on a case-by-case basis. Some teams look good (even great) with grey (Giants). Others, it just doesn't seem to work (Cardinals) even though in theory it maybe should.

I will have to see the Bills in real life before I will feel like I can personally pass judgement on them. I really think it could go either way.

[infrared41]

Has the grey facemask argument reached the point where guys are passionately arguing just about gray facemasks' right to exist? Seems like we're close.

I like to look at it on a case-by-case basis. Some teams look good (even great) with grey (Giants). Others, it just doesn't seem to work (Cardinals) even though in theory it maybe should.

I will have to see the Bills in real life before I will feel like I can personally pass judgement on them. I really think it could go either way.

Grey would work better if the Cardinals were still wearing the set prior to their current clown suits. Grey facemasks look silly with their current uniforms. Then again, their entire uniform looks silly so I guess at this point the color of the facemask really doesn't make much of a difference.

[Gothamite]

Yeah - the helmet (gray facemask and all) is the only part of the Cardinals' uniform that doesn't look terrible.

[ColeJ]

how can anyone consider a goalie's mask to be part of a uniform? there are no guidelines whatsoever, and he's the only player on the roster that wears it. not only does the backup goaltender have a completely different design to his mask, but he might not even wear the same style (irbe/osgood/thomas/etc)

so that argument is out the window to me. a goalie's mask is about as uniform as his fingerprints.

[JohnnySeoul]

Yeah - the helmet (gray facemask and all) is the only part of the Cardinals' uniform that doesn't look terrible.

Agreed. The Tillman-era Cardinals uniforms were perfection.

[Lights Out]

This is the closest the Cardinals have come to a perfect look:

If they had put similar striping (as well as the logo) on the red jersey's sleeves, and ditched the gray facemasks, it would have been total perfection.

[IceCap]

That old Cardinals logo was, to quote Archer, "baby town frolics." How it made it past 1997 is beyond me. I love the new Cardinals logo. It's still the same image, it's just been updated. One of the better facelift updates out there, in my opinion.

Though I agree with you on those uniforms. Slap the current logo on there and you have a very nice look.

[JohnnySeoul]

This is the closest the Cardinals have come to a perfect look:

If they had put similar striping (as well as the logo) on the red jersey's sleeves, and ditched the gray facemasks, it would have been total perfection.

Gotta disagree. Their white uniform update after this one was better. There's no need to have 3 cardinals on the uniform....the helmet is enough. Too bad they won't take their current cardinal logo and combine it with the Tillman-era uni's.