The Cleveland Browns announced on Wednesday they’ll swap their brown facemasks for white for Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which kicks off at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.
The Browns originally wore white facemasks from 1975-95 and upon their return as an expansion franchise from 1999-2005. They then switched to gray facemasks in 2006 as part of their 60th anniversary celebration.
That look remained until 2015, when Cleveland unveiled new uniforms – which included brown facemasks – and updated its primary logo to reflect the change.
The Browns subsequently kept the brown facemask when they returned to a classic look in 2020, though they wore gray facemask three times in 2021 as part of their 1946 throwback uniforms.
They also revived the white facemasks for one game last season, a 13-3 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 17, with executive vice president J.W. Johnson noting they were also considering a full-time change.
That hasn’t happened, of course, as Cleveland has worn a brown facemask in every game this season, including the two games in which they paired their new white helmets with their throwback uniforms.
Perhaps that’s still in the works for next season, as the typical turnaround time for uniform changes is two years. Not to mention the Browns would also have to update their primary logo to reflect such a change.