CLEVELAND — Last year, the NFL enacted a rule allowing teams to wear alternate helmets and the Cleveland Browns are taking advantage.
On Tuesday, the Browns unveiled new white alternate helmets, which will be worn for three games during the 2023 season: in Week 2 on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football, in Week 6 when they host the San Francisco 49ers and in Week 17 when they host the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football.
When worn, it will mark the first time since the 1951 season that Cleveland has worn helmets a color other than orange. The Browns wore white helmets during their first six years of existence from 1946-1951 before fully adopting orange helmets in 1952.
“We’re super fired up and really excited to have this opportunity to wear an alternate helmet,” Browns Executive Vice President and Partner JW Johnson said in a statement. “We decided to go with the white helmet for a couple reasons — it harkens back to our past, and a lot of our greatest players wore white helmets. We also heard from our fans that it was the direction they wanted. We always want to continue having great fan interaction and deliver for them as much as we possibly can.”
In 2021, Cleveland actually wore white throwback alternate uniforms inspired by the team's initial 1946 look to celebrate the franchise's 75th anniversary. Those uniforms are now being brought back to include the white helmet, as opposed to the orange helmet that was worn during the 2023 campaign.
Last year, however, the league changed those rules, permitting teams to wear multiple helmet shell colors throughout a season. While multiple teams took advantage of the rule in 2022, the Browns waited until 2023 to unveil their new throwback-inspired look.
Cleveland did, however, depart from its traditional brown facemasks to wear white facemasks for its Week 15 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. The Kardiac Kids-inspired look received rave reviews from the Browns fanbase, which has led to Johnson hinting that the white facemasks could become a full-time look for the team -- albeit not in 2023.
Earlier this year, the Browns held a contest in which fans could submit alternate dog logos to potentially be adopted by the team. The winning submission, designed by Houston Mark, has already appeared on team apparel available to fans.