Confirming our report from February, the Cleveland Browns unveiled a new white helmet on Tuesday that they’ll pair with their 1946 throwback uniforms during their Sept. 18 game at the Pittsburgh Steelers and at home against the San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets on Oct. 15 and Dec. 28, respectively.
“We’re super fired up and really excited to have this opportunity to wear an alternate helmet,” executive vice president J.W. Johnson said. “We decided to go with the white helmet for a couple 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.”
The Browns wore plain white leather helmets for every game from their inception in 1946 until they introduced a solid orange leather option in 1950 to comply with NFL rules requiring teams to wear helmets that contrast with the white football used during night games.
Cleveland won four straight American Football Conference championships while wearing white helmets before the league folded, then knocked off the defending NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles, 35-10, in their first game after switching leagues.
That game featured the Browns in orange helmets and the aforementioned white football, which was initially used during the NFL’s first night game between the Providence Steam Rollers and Chicago Cardinals in 1929 and lasted until 1955.
The Browns wore white helmets for one more season before moving to orange plastic lids on a full-time basis in 1952, albeit with a white stripe down the center. They then added a gray facemasks in 1954 and brown jersey numbers on the sides in 1957.
Cleveland initially paired this helmet design with its 1946 throwback uniforms as part of its 75th anniversary in 2021, and simply swapped the decals and facemask color on its standard orange helmets to adhere to the NFL’s one-helmet rule.
The league scrapped that rule ahead of last season, but the Browns did not wear their throwback uniforms in 2022. They’ll now make their return and be properly paired with a white helmet, although it has a few modern touches with the Browns’ current striping pattern and brown facemask.
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