At some point during the 2022 season, the Cowboys might be riding into battle wearing white hats once again.
Might be.
With the NFL having relaxed its one-helmet rule starting this year, teams will be able to showcase throwback or alternate uniform looks, including headgear. Several clubs have already announced or teased an upcoming wardrobe change; the Cowboys are thought to be considering bringing back the first helmets they ever wore, white shells with an unbordered navy star.
But team owner Jerry Jones could neither confirm nor deny last week when asked about the Cowboys bringing back the 1960 lids.
“I don’t know that I know that we’re not,” Jones confusingly joked. “Charlotte [Jones] will have to inform you there. Can I talk to Charlotte?”
While Jones chose to obfuscate with a Gordian knot of an answer and push the matter off to his daughter and chief brand officer, other NFL squads have already made concrete plans to sport new looks at some point in 2022.
The Patriots wowed fans this week with a Back to the Future-style video via social media revealing that they would be wearing their iconic red uniforms- complete with the “Pat Patriot” logo on white helmets- for at least one game.
The Atlanta Falcons have also declared a return to their roots for their Week 6 game. Red helmets will feature the old “Falcon F” logo and the original center stripe (that even included a thin gold outline, an homage to the city’s Georgia Tech fans, who thought the red-and-black uniforms looked too similar to the Georgia Bulldogs).
Last week, The New Orleans Saints debuted a new black helmet with intricate fleur-de-lis detailing within the center stripe, but it’s not known when they’ll wear them on the field.
The one-helmet rule was lifted last year but only takes effect this season. Teams that want to use a second helmet must supply each player with the exact same make and model as their primary helmet, follow the same sizing and fitting procedures, and allow players to wear the alternate helmets during a practice before wearing them in a game.
Not every team will take advantage of the new rule, at least not right away.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ white helmets with the “Bucco Bruce” logo will make a comeback, but not until the 2023 season, along with the “orange creamsicle” uniforms they wore for their first two decades, according to the team.
The Philadelphia Eagles will also wait until next year to bring back their old-school kelly green uniforms and helmets, as per team owner Jeffrey Lurie.
The website UniWatch reported late in 2021 that, according to a source with one of the major helmet manufacturers, only about half the league’s teams will add a second helmet this season. Teams were required to state their intentions to do so and submit designs for approval by last July 31.
The Cowboys have not revealed if they did so.
White helmets were worn by the Cowboys in 1960, the team’s inaugural year. They remained the official headgear until the 1964 regular season, when silver helmets with an outlined navy star were unveiled for the first time. (Interestingly, they made the switch after playing the preseason in their white helmets.)
The team resurrected white helmets with those throwback “double-star” jerseys each Thanksgiving Day from 2004 until 2012.
Will Cowboys fans see the white helmets again on Thanksgiving 2022? Or perhaps as a Christmas Eve surprise? Or maybe during one of the five scheduled primetime games? Or will they wait until next year?
Apparently, according to Jerry Jones, only Charlotte knows.
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