BALTIMORE RAVENS	CINCINNATI BENGALS	CLEVELAND BROWNS

PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Historical Helmets

BALTIMORE RAVENS

1996 - 1998	1999 -

The Cleveland Browns franchise was moved to Baltimore following the 1995 season and became the Baltimore Ravens.

CINCINNATI BENGALS

1968 - 1979	1980; 1994 special	1981 -

CLEVELAND BROWNS

1960	1975 - 1995; 1999 - 2005	November 26, 2006
*see note 1 below		*see note 2 below

1961 - 1974; November 26, 2006;

Some sources indicate that the Cleveland Browns may have briefly worn an interlocking "CB" logo on their helmets during the early 1960s, but it appears almost certain that these were never worn during any game; I have certainly never seen even a single photograph showing such a helmet design in use during an actual game.

The NFL treats the "old" Cleveland Browns (? - 1995) and the 1999 expansion team as a single franchise for historical purposes, and I have accordingly lumped all helmets from those periods together, although in reality the 1995 Browns "became" the 1996 Baltimore Ravens.

*1 Mike Stanhope's helmet web site (http://www.mikestanhope.com/Helmetpix.html) lists this design as having been used in 1961 also, but a visitor to the current web site has pointed out that all photographs he has seen from the 1961 season show the numerals to be absent from the sides of the Browns' helmets. In particular, the numerals are absent in games against the Giants and Eagles. Does anyone have any evidence that the Browns wore numerals on the sides of their helmets in 1961?

*2 This design was worn during a home game against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2006, as the Browns used "the uniform worn during the first three years of Jim Brown's Hall of Fame career - from 1957-59" (source: article by Steve King at clevelandbrowns.com). The article also stated "The last time that numbers appeared on either side of the helmet was from 1957-60, and the last time a single white stripe was used was from 1952 until 1960, when the two brown stripes were added". The design was again used November 25, 2007, during a home game against the Houston Texans, and will apparently be used in the future during the Browns' next game following the Thanksgiving holiday.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS

1959 - 1961	1962 (first nine games)	November 18, 1962- December 16, 1962
		*see note 1 below

January 6, 1963	1963 - 1976	1994 special
*see note 2 below

September 16, 2007; November 5, 2007	1977 -

The circular logo has always been worn on the right sides of the Steelers' helmets, with the left sides always "blank". I've shown the logo on the left side here just to be consistent with the rest of this web site.

*1 The traditional logo was first used during the tenth game of the 1962 season, a home game against the Washington Redskins. It was worn on yellow helmet shells during this game and the last four games of the regular season.

*2 The Steelers first used black helmets in the "Playoff Bowl" game at the end of the 1962 season, a 17-10 loss to the Detroit Lions. This game, officially called the "Bert Bell Benefit Bowl", was played annually in Miami from 1960 to 1969, a week before the NFL championship game; it was not actually a playoff game, but rather an exhibition matchup between the second place teams in the NFL's Western and Eastern Conferences.