The Cleveland Browns will wear their white helmets with their 1946 throwback uniforms for the third and final time this season on Thursday night against the New York Jets (8:15 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime).
The Browns originally wore solid white helmets from their inception in 1946 until they added a plain orange option in 1950 to comply with NFL rules requiring teams to wear helmets that contrasted with the white football used during night games.
Cleveland rotated between the two helmets for one more season before moving to orange lids on a full-time basis in 1952, albeit with a white stripe down the center. They then added gray facemasks in 1954 and brown jerseys numbers on the sides in 1957.
The Browns initially paired the 1957 helmet design with the 1946 throwback uniforms as part of their 75th anniversary celebration in 2021, swapping out the decals and facemasks on their standard orange helmets to adhere to the NFL’s one-helmet rule.
The league ultimately scrapped that rule last season, which allowed Cleveland to introduce a new white helmet – complete with the Browns’ current striping pattern down the center and a brown facemask – this fall.
As mentioned, the white helmets have already been paired with the throwback uniforms twice this season, including a 26-22 loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 18 and a 19-17 home win over the San Francisco 49ers on Oct. 15.
The Jets, meanwhile, will wear all-green for the second consecutive weekend. They are 1-0 in the combination this season after blowing a 27-7 lead to the Washington Commanders on Christmas Eve before kicking the game-winning field goal with seconds left.