Bills Central

Bills fans call for return of red helmets following Ravens' alternate helmet reveal

Buffalo Bills fans took to social media to call for the return of red helmets following the Baltimore Ravens' reveal of alternate purple headgear.

Kyle Silagyi

Jan 31, 1993; Pasadena, CA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly (12) scrambles with the ball against the Dallas Cowboys during Super Bowl XXVII at the Rose Bowl. The Cowboys defeated the Bills 52-17. Mandatory Credit: James D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 31, 1993; Pasadena, CA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly (12) scrambles with the ball against the Dallas Cowboys during Super Bowl XXVII at the Rose Bowl. The Cowboys defeated the Bills 52-17. Mandatory Credit: James D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports / James D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
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There are truly only three things that the contemporary Buffalo Bills supporter asks for—a Lombardi Trophy, the continued health of quarterback Josh Allen, and the return of red helmets.

The Buffalo faithful have clamored for the reintroduction of red helmets throughout the past several years, as that hue of headgear is oft-associated with some of the most fondly remembered periods in the franchise’s prestigious history. The Bills first started wearing red helmets in 1984, a departure from the white lids they had worn almost exclusively to that point in their history; Buffalo wore the red headgear throughout the rest of the 1980s and 1990s, the helmets, thus, associated with the team that appeared in four straight Super Bowls from 1990–1993.

Some of the best players in franchise history—Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Darryl Talley, the list goes on—are remembered in red helmets, and thus, fans want to see them return.

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They also are just aesthetically pleasing. They, for lack of a better term, look cool. They’d match well with the team’s current uniform collection, and with the NFL recently amending its uniform policy to allow teams to have up to three “helmet designs [in their] uniform closets,” fan demand has grown louder in recent months.

It perhaps reached a fever pitch on Tuesday afternoon when the Baltimore Ravens unveiled a new purple helmet to be worn for one game in the 2024 campaign. The… interesting purple lid will serve as the first non-black headgear worn by the Ravens since their establishment in 1996.

Bills fans—expectedly—took the reveal as an opportunity to again voice their desire for red helmets, with several fans calling for the return of the headgear on social media following Baltimore’s unveil.

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Buffalo wore its initial red helmets from 1984 through 1986, switching out its blue facemask for a white protector in 1987. It wore those helmets through 2001, slightly altering them in 2002 to account for the darker shade of blue adopted by the team during a larger uniform redesign. The Bills wore those helmets until 2011 when the team redesigned its uniforms to be more reminiscent of the 1960s, donning white helmets for the first time since 1983.

Buffalo’s last set of red headgear was part of a uniform collection largely viewed as its worst in franchise history. The last time it wore red helmets in a regular season contest was its Week 17 matchup with the New York Jets in the 2010 NFL season, a 38-7 loss to cap off a 4-12 season.

Fans rightfully would like a fonder final memory.

Current quarterback Josh Allen teased Bills Mafia by donning a red helmet at the Return of the Blue and Red practice at Highmark Stadium in 2022, but nothing ultimately came of the taunt. He wore a blue helmet at last year’s rendition of the practice, but the headgear was not met with anything close to the same fanfare.

The Bills have not announced, or even teased, that the reintroduction of red helmets is on the horizon. Until then, fans will continue to make their voices heard on social media.

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Kyle Silagyi

KYLE SILAGYI

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