This time it's ESPN's Helmet Power Rankings. Using the votes of eight of their NFL bloggers, here's the top 10 list they came up with:
1. Pittsburgh
2. Indianapolis
3. Oakland
4. Green Bay
5. San Diego
6. Dallas
7. Minnesota
8. Cleveland
9. Chicago
10. Miami
That's a pretty good list and it's hard to argue with the Steelers at #1. It's got local flavor with the steel symbol, is unique in only having the logo on one side and is the kind of logo that'll never go out of style, unlike the crappy "fast" logos of the '90s and '00s that seem pretty unfortunate now.
The voting shows that 26 different teams received at least one vote, showing just how subjective of an exercise it is to rank helmets. But, if I have a gripe with the list it's that Cleveland's helmet is crap and, yet again, San Diego's is grossly overrated. I have no idea why San Diego gets so much love in these uniform/helmet/logo debates. If it were my list, I'd probably drop out San Diego and Cleveland and bring in the Redskins and Chiefs. I'd also put any of the Bills, Rams, and Broncos in there if they'd go back to their traditional logos/color schemes. The NHL is showing these days that it is possible to go back on regrettable logo decisions, it'd be nice to see the NFL follow suit.
The Buccaneers, Seahawks, Panthers, Ravens, Patriots, Broncos and Jaguars basically have interchangeable helmets. It's hard to figure how they got votes and the Titans and Texans didn't, since they're the same helmet. As crappy as the Bengals helmet is, at least it's different than those ones.
ReplyDeleteOut of all the 4 major US sports I feel that the NFL has the weakest selection of logos which is why this list had 26 teams receiving votes. They are all very "smashed together" and are very basic in their designs. I think if you looked at the 3 other sports you would have a more consistent list of logos. A logo being placed on a sphere hemlet or a tiny shoulder patch makes any intricate design difficult to execute, wheras the NHL and MLB have the luxury of placing the logo on a larger scale on the jersey. The NBA doesn't even have to contest because I don't think any NBA team has a logo on the uniform aside from maybe a small patch somewhere.
ReplyDeleteMy top 10 all time would be:
Raiders
Steelers
Bears
Patriots (throwback)
Cowboys
Bengals
Dolphins
Bills (throwback)
Eagles
Rams
Although I like the Chargers uniforms as a whole, I do not like the lightning helmet alone. They are more of a package deal for me.
My most overrated helmet would be the Packers.
All other helmets just look to be too cramped.