Notre Dame helmet for game vs Maryland

[ESTONES6]

Just match the shades of green. I never understood why teams/franchises/organization/schools do that. Unless your officials colors are navy blue and light blue - a la Tennessee Titans - then why not just match the shades of your basic colors?

[gdu]

If it changes your opinion, that's REAL gold leaf put on by hand. It's done the old fashion way: glue, gold foil, then pushed in with a brush and that gives it the spin looks.

Time out--lemme make sure I'm understanding this right. That's actual real gold there, like the kind they make jewelry out of and such? This might just be me, but that's a bit much for a college football helmet, methinks. And wouldn't that potentially make those helmets a prime target of theft? Or am I just crazy?

(Who pays for all that, anyway? That's what I really wanna know.)

You must not know much about Notre Dame helmet history...

[mbannon92]

If it changes your opinion, that's REAL gold leaf put on by hand. It's done the old fashion way: glue, gold foil, then pushed in with a brush and that gives it the spin looks.

Time out--lemme make sure I'm understanding this right. That's actual real gold there, like the kind they make jewelry out of and such? This might just be me, but that's a bit much for a college football helmet, methinks. And wouldn't that potentially make those helmets a prime target of theft? Or am I just crazy?

(Who pays for all that, anyway? That's what I really wanna know.)

The 8,362 of us that don't play football.

[gdu]

If it changes your opinion, that's REAL gold leaf put on by hand. It's done the old fashion way: glue, gold foil, then pushed in with a brush and that gives it the spin looks.

Time out--lemme make sure I'm understanding this right. That's actual real gold there, like the kind they make jewelry out of and such? This might just be me, but that's a bit much for a college football helmet, methinks. And wouldn't that potentially make those helmets a prime target of theft? Or am I just crazy?

(Who pays for all that, anyway? That's what I really wanna know.)

The 8,362 of us that don't play football.

Really? You think the school is giving money to the football program, not the other way around?

[TheOldRoman]

Yeah, Notre Dame without the football program is a lesser version of Northwestern. They pull in tens of millions of dollars in donations from alumni every year because of the boys wearing the gold helmets.

[Spearhead]

Colored facemasks are for girls. Grey says, "Welcome to the fooking gridiron. You can take your colored fashion accessories to the ballroom while I go play football."

I guess you didn't say that to the Steelers and their leading Superbowl championship did you? How about the Packers and their championships? Better yet 28 teams that won the Superbowl wearing colored facemasks.

You don't even know how to spell "Super Bowl." When did this lousy, over-hyped event become the definitive statement in manly headgear design?

Nice helmet, Nore Dame, except for the lousy mask.

[BrandMooreArt]

Colored facemasks are for girls. Grey says, "Welcome to the fooking gridiron. You can take your colored fashion accessories to the ballroom while I go play football."

I guess you didn't say that to the Steelers and their leading Superbowl championship did you? How about the Packers and their championships? Better yet 28 teams that won the Superbowl wearing colored facemasks.

You don't even know how to spell "Super Bowl." When did this lousy, over-hyped event become the definitive statement in manly headgear design?

Nice helmet, Nore Dame, except for the lousy mask.

you dont even know how to spell "Notre Dame"

Andrew's point is valid though. the hell does team success have to do with the message a design sends?

[andrewharrington]

Colored facemasks are for girls. Grey says, "Welcome to the fooking gridiron. You can take your colored fashion accessories to the ballroom while I go play football."

I guess you didn't say that to the Steelers and their leading Superbowl championship did you? How about the Packers and their championships? Better yet 28 teams that won the Superbowl wearing colored facemasks.

Only 4 of the Steelers' and 2 of the Packers' championships were won with a colored facemask, and you're mistaken, because 24 Super Bowls have been won in grey facemasks vs. 21 for all other colors combined. That's beside the point, though, because it's not about how successful grey is on the field, but rather, it's about what it represents; the history of the game, the attitude, the grit, the toughness. The facemask is not a fashion accessory. It is a cage; a piece of equipment that should not be a flashy colored element of a football uniform.

[Cujo]

They're baaaaack!.... just in time for Notre Dame. https://twitter.com/#!/RandyEdsall/status/134405337963958272

[TruColor]

The facemask is not a fashion accessory. It is a cage; a piece of equipment that should not be a flashy colored element of a football uniform.

Hell - the helmet is just a piece of equipment too then.

Why do they even bother painting it up in team colors and placing decals on it?

[/sarcasm]

Seriously though; in my opinion, the facemask is not the same as a glove, or a belt, or even the shoes. It is front-and-center covering the player's face. IMO, if it is in a contrasting/non-team color, it distracts from the overall look.

And as far as I'm concerned, the worst examples are teams like Notre Dame or the 49ers whose flat, Gray facemasks completely clash with their Metallic Gold helmets.

[powersurge]

Slightly off topic...but....I can't help but think that this is a perfect example of why some helmets just shouldn't have logos on them. I've read more than enough threads over the years trying to validate Penn State, the Cleveland Browns, or the Fighting Irish utilizing some sort of helmet logo. I've always thought that each of their helmets were fine and this helps prove it for me. Some helmets just shouldn't have a logo on them. I love the gold but hate the shamrock.

[aawagner011]

They're baaaaack!.... just in time for Notre Dame. https://twitter.com/#!/RandyEdsall/status/134405337963958272

The combo I really want to see is the black helmet matched with the Pride jersey and pants. I think it would soften the "shock value" of the set but look really great with the flag motif still on the shoulders, and echoed in the helmet stripe.

[neo_prankster]

Notre Dame should adopt that shamrock helmet full time.

[PhlyBoy]

They're baaaaack!.... just in time for Notre Dame. https://twitter.com/...405337963958272

PLEASE alternate the helmet pattern with the shoulder pattern to represent the actual flag! then i wouldn't mid it at all. actually id go as far to say id like it a lot. but with the all one side thing, it just bugs me

[Lights Out]

Colored facemasks are for girls. Grey says, "Welcome to the fooking gridiron. You can take your colored fashion accessories to the ballroom while I go play football."

Disagree. Childish stereotypes of masculinity aside, gray facemasks look almost universally awful in this day and age. If a team absolutely insists on a neutral, non-school color facemask, they should use white facemasks instead.

[mbannon92]

If it changes your opinion, that's REAL gold leaf put on by hand. It's done the old fashion way: glue, gold foil, then pushed in with a brush and that gives it the spin looks.

Time out--lemme make sure I'm understanding this right. That's actual real gold there, like the kind they make jewelry out of and such? This might just be me, but that's a bit much for a college football helmet, methinks. And wouldn't that potentially make those helmets a prime target of theft? Or am I just crazy?

(Who pays for all that, anyway? That's what I really wanna know.)

The 8,362 of us that don't play football.

Really? You think the school is giving money to the football program, not the other way around?

It was more intended as a joke, seeing as how we're all paying 50 grand a year. Alumni donated over a billion bucks last year...it's clear where the cash is coming from.

[ARTnSocal]

Keep the GREEN facemask! Grey is so 1950s

>>>>>>

No .... it's not.

Right around 1980 the trendy thing that teams were doing was coloring their facemasks. It's no different than styles. Styles from the past whether in the clothing line or whatever have always gone out of style and many have come back in style after long periods.

To me it all depends on the helmet and uniform color, but if it were so 50s there wouldn't be so many teams that have gone back to that classic gray style.

I don't believe the facemask to be a mere equipment thing, it's color affects the uniform. I only view the chin strap as equipment which color .

[andrewharrington]

The facemask is not a fashion accessory. It is a cage; a piece of equipment that should not be a flashy colored element of a football uniform.

Hell - the helmet is just a piece of equipment too then.

Why do they even bother painting it up in team colors and placing decals on it?

[/sarcasm]

Seriously though; in my opinion, the facemask is not the same as a glove, or a belt, or even the shoes. It is front-and-center covering the player's face. IMO, if it is in a contrasting/non-team color, it distracts from the overall look.

And as far as I'm concerned, the worst examples are teams like Notre Dame or the 49ers whose flat, Gray facemasks completely clash with their Metallic Gold helmets.

I think grey and gold look great together (schools like Colorado and Idaho wouldn't choose their colors to be Silver and Gold if those colors didn't work together). Grey is a perfect facemask color. It's neutral. It doesn't clash with any colors, and it doesn't draw attention away from anything else on the uniform because is the most subdued, unassuming, non-noticeable color there is. It recedes as a piece of equipment should. If the fact that it's front and center means that it should be team colored, then the same holds true for the chinstrap, but the NFL mandates that those all be a neutral color (white).

[gatek99]

a kelly green facemask to match the logo would have been awesome

[andrewharrington]

Colored facemasks are for girls. Grey says, "Welcome to the fooking gridiron. You can take your colored fashion accessories to the ballroom while I go play football."

Disagree. Childish stereotypes of masculinity aside, gray facemasks look almost universally awful in this day and age. If a team absolutely insists on a neutral, non-school color facemask, they should use white facemasks instead.

Disagree. White would stand out far too much. If the point is for the facemask to be as unassuming as possible, as if it weren't there, grey is the best option since they don't do transparent or clear facemasks, and any color draws more attention than grey. In addition, white does not work with every team's color scheme and it has no roots in the early history of the facemask. Grey works for every team because at one time, every facemask was grey (or brownish-grey) and it was accepted that that's how it was. The same way people accept that the grille of a car is chrome and the tires are black, no matter what the color scheme o the car is, It's acceptable for the facemask to be grey and the shoes to be black, no matter what the team's color scheme is. It's just equipment.

And the childish stereotypes of masculinity were clearly tongue-in-cheek. I like things that are generally regarded as feminine probably more than the average male. The grey facemask is more than 'design.' It sends a message and has its own character that is inherited by its wearer. Can you picture Jim Brown running around in a clean, bright white mask? No. Can you picture Dick Butkus drilling people in a sleek, dark blue mask? No. When you think of football, the attitude of the game, its history and all that has come before the game we have today, the grey facemask embodies that much better than a colored one.

I don't dislike colored masks. There's quite a few that I love, to be honest, but there's also nothing inherently wrong with a grey mask, as many people would have you believe. It's just a whole different look and attitude and can be pulled off by anyone if the rest of the brand follows the same attitude. It's part of football. Sure, it looks bad when you pair it with a uniform like the Cardinals have, but it looks stunning when you pair it with a uniform like Alabama's, which would look funny with a white mask, given the attitude of that program, their history and their brand in general.