Helmet Stripes Out Dated?

[hockey week]

The stripe in the middle of the helmet might stick around simply because it adds symmetry, and looks traditional. I see none of the "traditional" teams, the ones who are known for the same look over decades, dropping them anytime soon.

However, with no more raised ridge in the middle of the helmet, there is no longer a reason for them to be there, other than for purely aesthetic purposes.

I would not be surprised if more "new" and "modern" designs neglect to include the center stripe simply because of that.

Someday, there will likely be another element to a helmet that will make a new way to stripe obvious, something we cannot foresee.

As we see with sleeve stripes getting crowded, stretched, and cut off, maybe helmet stripes will be similarly pushed out. I'm sure nobody would have imagined Green Bay losing half their sleeve stripes because there wasn't room, and now nobody thinks twice about it, and few actively miss the old style. Helmet stripes could do the same thing. Who knows.

[vicfurth]

I don't see any NFL team that currently uses helmet stripes eliminating them. In fact wouldn't surprise me to see Denver and Tennessee go with more traditional helmet stripes at some point in the future. So to answer the original question, no.

Denver and Tennessee going back to "traditional" stripes? They aren't going back to those stripes. The stripes they have now are what's "traditional" to them at this point. If anything, they will do away with them altogether.

Yes. The tapered stripes both use are products of the late 90s, remnants of a trend that's come and gone. I could see both going with traditional stripes because, whether you like them or not, they're considered the "proper" look for a football uniform. The practical reasons for them may have gone, but proper helmet stripes as a design element are still ingrained in the aesthetic of football.

"Proper" and "traditional"? You sound like those old guys probably did when they complained as stripes first started to appear on helmets for the first time. Times change. Designs change. Move on.

Hmm... Looks like that's exactly what you said.

[BrandMooreArt]

The stripe in the middle of the helmet might stick around simply because it adds symmetry, and looks traditional. I see none of the "traditional" teams, the ones who are known for the same look over decades, dropping them anytime soon.

However, with no more raised ridge in the middle of the helmet, there is no longer a reason for them to be there, other than for purely aesthetic purposes.

I would not be surprised if more "new" and "modern" designs neglect to include the center stripe simply because of that.

Someday, there will likely be another element to a helmet that will make a new way to stripe obvious, something we cannot foresee.

As we see with sleeve stripes getting crowded, stretched, and cut off, maybe helmet stripes will be similarly pushed out. I'm sure nobody would have imagined Green Bay losing half their sleeve stripes because there wasn't room, and now nobody thinks twice about it, and few actively miss the old style. Helmet stripes could do the same thing. Who knows.

The lines in the helmet sparked the ideas, but they were always decoration and still serve the same purpose.

[nuordr]

I am a huge fan of helmet stripes and I hope they never go away. I will agree that some teams can pull helmets off with no stripes (Oregon), but for teams like Ohio State I could not imagine a solid silver helmet with no logos or stripes as that would be too plain. Heck, even Penn State, one of most traditional (some say boring) uniform in College Football has a helmet stripe on their set.

Now I do believe that in order for a team to use helmet stripes they need to use stripes on the jersey or pants as well in order to pull it off correctly. I will use the Cleveland Browns as an example:

The stripe on the helmet works great with these pants:

Now when the Browns pants are worn, I believe this is not a great look as the pants are too plain and need stripes:

But if you look at the orange pants, the stripes makes the whole uniform "pop" from head to toe:

[goforbroke]

I don't think helmet stripes are are outdated per se, but now that some teams have more modern, elaborate logos and interesting stripe/pipe patterns on their uniforms (for better or worse) there is less of a need for helmet stripes in those cases. I guess what I'm saying is now there are more OPTIONS for designs and for making a uniform seem unique beyond just what color helmet and stripe you have, so in that sense - in some cases - it becomes more UNNECESSARY than outdated.

[OnWis97]

I agree on the above Browns example. I love traditional "3-stripe" designs like Cleveland, Dallas and Green Bay. I also love a white shell with "color, white, color" like the Jets and Wisconsin.

I happen to wish there was a bit more of this, such as the Lions going back. Yeah, there are some teams that should not have any stripes (Eagles, Rams, Vikings as most obvious choices)

The current mix of traditional and "new" stripes, along with some stripe-less helmets is fine by me and truth be told, this thread is the first time that I'd ever really heard of stripes existing because of the construct of the helmet. I think this translates to new helmets just fine (better than the Michigan design).

And no, these are not going anywhere any faster than button-up baseball jerseys.

[Sport]

Talk about a topic posted with an agenda in mind.

So you want everybody to wear plain helmets with a logo on the side?

That would be really boring.

Stripes aren't outdated anyways. A lot of modern designs have unveiled recent designs that use helmet stripes (Miami Dolphins) so even your opening thesis is flawed..

Agenda? How? I just wanted to see what people's opinions were. I don't really care one way or the other. lol The Dolphins stripe is more modern. There are people who complain about the way that looks too.

Agenda? How? You posed a question and when people answered differently than you wanted you began arguing with them.

You wanted to see what people's opinions were and when they differed from yours you got defensive of your agenda. And it's clear you do care for one way over the other. lol

[JackieMoon]

Tradition and history is deep in football. Keep them.

[Buster]

I completely disagree that stripes are outdated. Many teams still pull them off great. Some classic helmets would not look right without them and many modern helmets like the Panthers and even the Bills are coming up with new ways to do stripes.

With that said, I was really surprised how great the Redskins' helmet looked without stripes.

[rams80]

I'm not going to say you had an agenda or that even the discussion is bad. I will say what I tell a lot of newer members that bring up the subject of what we like or don't like.

Any time one suggests change from the familiar there will inevitably be backlash from those that like the familiar. That makes us human just like you prefer change, which is also human. Calling us out for calling you out does neither side any good. We're not old guys that need to move on. You're not some young whippersnapper who spits on tradition either. However, calling people out in the fashion you've already chosen portrays you as a douche.

I don't think you're a douche. I also don't think you're doing yourself any favors.

That's not what I said, and spare me that "newbie" nonsense. Some people here are just too afraid to step out of the box and think different.

Sometimes the box is actually useful. It's a lesson lost on some adherents on post-modernism,/post-structuralism, but it's still true.

It seems helmet stripes were intended to sort of decorate, or camouflage, the raised middle portion of the older style helmet which is not used anymore. Is it time to move away from helmet stripes?

Seems? Is there any proof of this, or is it just your opinion?

By your reasoning, there's no point to stripes of sleeves (or sleeve areas) or pants.

So, every team should just wear solid color uniforms with no embellishments, and just a decal (or not) on the helmet?

It'd certainly be easier to produce counterfeits that way.

[Slammersman]

Here is a team that will never get rid of stripes and should never get rid of stripes.

[nuordr]

I would go so far as to say that both Alabama or Auburn will never lose their stripes.

[BrandMooreArt]

I completely disagree that stripes are outdated. Many teams still pull them off great. Some classic helmets would not look right without them and many modern helmets like the Panthers and even the Bills are coming up with new ways to do stripes.

With that said, I was really surprised how great the Redskins' helmet looked without stripes.

You have to look at the uniform as a whole. There are no stripes on the jersey or pants. Removing the stripes on the helmet give it some space that is reflected in the rest of the uniform. With the stripes applied you create visual tention, there is too much color and shape in one area which break rythem with the jersey and pants.

My issue with the Browns is the lack of consistency. I like the brown pants with white jersey because you only have 2 different stripe patterns in the uniform. The brown pants balance the player visually. Darker color pants make the player look stable, with a strong base, where brown over white pants makes them appear top heavy. With dark colors, i think you also can use more space (plain pants with no stripe) to your advantage where bright or light colors are very "loud" and need something more to break it up.

Ive never like brown over orange because i dont like the color balance. The uniform is dominated by brown and orange and need a lot more white IMO

[guest23]

Helmet and pant stripes are a common desgin element in football. Football uniforms go through cyclical design trends like any other apparel category. Stripes will come and go with popularity. In the 90' helment and pant stripes fell out of favor for a more minimal and basic look ance once too many teams started to adopt the same look you saw the pendulum swing the other way. With the current state of design trends, we are in a state of hyper-trends where everything goes with retro. modern, minimal and ornate designs all being worn at the same time and in some circumstances by the same team in the same season.

In short, helmet stripes will never go away. They will just be more or less fasionable at a given moment.

[hockey week]

And no, these are not going anywhere any faster than button-up baseball jerseys.

In short, helmet stripes will never go away. They will just be more or less fasionable at a given moment.

These are absolutely excellent points.

[hawk36]

I don't think stripes should go away but I do like how the Seahawks have worked with the newer helmet shapes to create an interesting design element. Maybe we just need a little more well thought out stripe designs.

[WideRight]

I don't have an image, but two of the new Indiana U. designs use the wider helmet raised area to create unique tapered stripes. I could see something like that catching on, but it really only works if every player is using the same helmet model. If different players use different brands of helmet, with different shapes to them the whole idea falls apart.

[shaydre1019]

Funny you mention that. I noticed this helmet this weekend. I've never seen it before, but it cuts off the helmet stripes.

[wonderbread]

looks like a revo speed 360, but don't know whats going on with that plate in the front, never seen that before.

[Kofi Annan]

wow, I'm just going to go out and say it. This kid is an idiot, the fact that the dolphins have stripes isn't the problem, it's the way they did them, if it was just and orange aqua orange stripe like the old set i would love it and most would here too. You seem to be so off base with you reasons for not having stripes that you look like an ignorant douche.

Hostility is wasted energy. Please be peaceful in your dialogue.

Blessings of peace to you.