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NFL approved alternate helmets today for teams wearing throwback uniforms starting in 2022, per league sources. This opens the door to the defending world-champion Bucs wearing the old white helmets with the orange swashbuckling Buccaneer as early as 2022.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 24, 2021
Good news, everyone! ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the NFL will allow teams to introduce alternate helmets for the 2022 season, with league spokesman Brian McCarthy clarifying that franchises must notify the NFL office of their plans for the new gear “by no later than July 31.” So while this change won’t come into effect this season, we could see a new look for the New Orleans Saints in 2022.
But there’s a catch, unfortunately. Chris Creamer of SportsLogos.Net adds that alternate helmets are only available for era-accurate throwback uniforms, or designs already in use for existing alternates or “Color Rush” variants. That means the popular Saints “Color Rush” uniforms could qualify for a matching white helmet, though there isn’t an official design in circulation just yet. New Orleans has worn those alternates as often as the league allows, and even petitioned for special permission in the playoffs, so they have time to figure out a plan.
It’s a blessing and a curse that the Saints got their look right the first time. They’ve tweaked the striping, fonts, and occasionally color saturation over the decades, but today’s uniforms aren’t that different from what New Orleans rolled out back in the day. That leaves just one possible alternate helmet for the Saints to dust off: their black helmets worn during the 1969 preseason, which made an immediate hit with players and fans but were banned by the NFL following a marketing dispute. Have a look for yourself:
Saints rocking their very rare 1969 "preseason-only" black helmets during a scrimmage with the Chargers, August 1969. pic.twitter.com/GIHkS23pm8
— Kevin Gallagher (@KevG163) August 16, 2020
These black helmets would look terrific with the “Black and Gold” throwbacks the Saints have used sparingly, most recently in 2016’s game with the Detroit Lions (and before that, in 2011 against the Houston Texans). Maybe pairing those throwbacks with alternate helmets would encourage the Saints to bring them back out into the light.
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