Bama Central

Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: White Helmets

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Christopher Walsh

Special to BamaCentral

It may surprise you to learn that Alabama hasn't always worn crimson-colored helmets. 

It has at times worn white helmets. 

Although some players still didn’t wear leather helmets in the mid-1920s, it’s believed the first time the team sported white helmets (with crimson markings) was 1930. However it switched to a dark helmet, possibly black, the following year.

Other notable years the Crimson Tide wore white helmets include 1949 (with a Crimson stripe), 1955 (all white), 1956 (the stripe returned), 1971 (in the opener against Southern California and again against Houston), and 1983-84 (Alabama used both white and crimson helmets). 

During the 1960s, Alabama used white helmets on eligible receivers during night games or when the opposing team’s color was close to the Crimson Tide’s.

Some fans desperately want to see the again. 

Last month, the Alabama football official Twitter account unintentionally (we think) filled them with false hope when it posted a white-on-white script A, with both the letter and the background white, along with the words, “stay tuned!”

Although it was for the profile picture, they hoped it was teasing the possible return of white helmets. 

Athletic director Greg Byrne quickly put the issue to rest, responding, "I don’t see that happening at this time."

Mal Moore was so orthodox with uniforms that he was totally against the Crimson Tide wearing black in any sport. 

Nick Saban is similar in his thinking. If you have the equivalent of New York Yankees pinstripes, why would you ever mess with it?

“I’m such a traditionalist,” Saban said a few years ago. “Everybody has an idea or what Alabama football players are supposed to look like when they come out of the tunnel.

"That’s not a tradition that I think anybody has a right to mess with.”

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Christopher Walsh
CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of BamaCentral, which first published in 2018. He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004, and is the author of 26 books including Decade of Dominance, 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Nick Saban vs. College Football, and Bama Dynasty: The Crimson Tide's Road to College Football Immortality. He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.

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