Article: The Nikefication of the NFL continues

The Nikefication of the NFL continues


By
Mike Florio



Published April 10, 2024 07:22 PM

The NFL has officially been Nikefied.

We knew it would happen, from the moment Nike won the apparel contract from Reebok. Given the proliferation of uniform combinations at the college level — especially at Oregon, the alma mater of Nike founder Phil Knight — it was just a matter of time before Nike turned the NFL uniform into multiple different head-to-toe ensembles.

The only thing that kept it from happening was the NFL’s clunky (but useful, for these purposes) rule limiting players to one helmet per year, for concussion purposes. Once the league decided to double that number to two, it was just a matter of time before it became three. And now four. And maybe five.

Yes, as of 2025, teams will be allowed to use three different helmets. Three! For those of us who love the traditional (and instantly recognizable) looks, it’s a potential nightmare.

It’s also a potential cash cow for teams. They’ll come up with new helmets. Ardent fans will buy every one of them.


And I’ll admit that some of the alternate helmets are great. For plenty of teams, the alternate/throwback uniform is better than the base gear.

Still, the number of helmets and jerseys will continue to grow. It was inevitable. I’ll accept it, even if I don’t have to like it.

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#HelmetHornsMatter

“Well, the color is good, I like the metallic blue,” Youngblood recently said while laughing, via NFL Journal. “The horn is terrible. It looks like a ‘C.’ When I first saw it on the logo I honestly thought it was a Charger logo.

“Now when I see it on the helmet, it just isn’t a ram horn. There is no distinct curl like a mature ram horn. I don’t know how the Rams could get that wrong. That is your symbol and it has been for what? Seventy years or more? Longer than I have been alive? It’s just not us, it’s not the Rams.”---Mr. Ram Jack Youngblood