The Cleveland Browns will be sporting a white helmet for the first time in over 70 years this upcoming season.
The Browns revealed on Tuesday morning a white alternate helmet that will be worn three times during the upcoming season: Week 2 at the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football, Week 6 vs. the San Francisco 49ers and Week 17 vs. Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football.
The new helmet doesn’t stray far from Cleveland’s classic design with the white, brown and orange colors essentially inverted from their usual iconic look. White dominates the shell, with two dark brown stripes bordering the orange stripe down the middle. A shiny, metallic brown facemask completes the new look. All-white throwback uniforms with customary orange and brown striping accompany the new helmet, which is not an unfamiliar look for the Browns. However, the brown number with orange shadow piping adds flare to the classic threads.
The Browns made their pro football debut with an all-white helmet in 1946 before switching to its iconic, customary orange shell in 1951. They won four All-American Football Conference championships with the helmet in their first four years and carried their success with the helmet over to the franchise’s first year in the NFL in 1950 when it won the league championship. Their roster at the time was filled with several franchise legends such as Otto Graham, Marion Motley, Bill Willis, Lou Groza, Mac Speedie and Dante Lavelli.
Joining the new helmet is a 1946 patch on the shoulder of this new kit which further honors the Browns’ past. Cleveland has been reimagining in recent years regarding its uniform and overall look, and the team is taking advantage of the new alternate helmet rule approved last year. In 2015 the club made a bold move by moving away from its traditional look to create a new trend. Ahead of the 2020 season, the Browns returned to the classics while keeping some key details that give it a modern feel.
Tuesday’s helmet reveal comes after the team introduced its new “dawg” logo last month, a rendering submitted and voted on by the fans. Cleveland fans also had their voices heard ahead of last season for the club’s midfield logo, and then “Brownie the Elf” appeared on the 50-yard line. The latest change now gives us one of the cleanest uniforms in the NFL, and it will have a new look to play in when the 2023 season kicks off.
“We’re super fired up and really excited to have this opportunity to wear an alternate helmet,” Executive Vice President and Partner JW Johnson said. “We decided to go with the white helmet for a couple of reasons — it harkens back to our past, and a lot of our greatest players wore white helmets. We also heard from our fans that it was the direction they wanted. We always want to continue having great fan interaction and deliver for them as much as we possibly can.”
A white helmet has long been a desirable choice among fans for a revival, and Johnson, according to the team, is happy to grant their wishes. The new helmet is part of an ongoing commitment from the organization to tap into feedback from the fanbase and surrounding community. Well, when you look good, you play good and the Browns will look great with their new helmet to tie together their new look. If they play well, maybe it’ll also result in a few more wins for Cleveland.
Evan Dammarell is an award-winning sports journalist covering all things Cleveland right off the shores of Lake Erie. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. You can also email him at evan@downeuclid.com. He can also be found three to five times weekly on Locked On Cavs, a part of the Locked On Podcast Network.
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