ATLANTA FALCONS	CAROLINA PANTHERS	NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

Historical Helmets

ATLANTA FALCONS

1966 - 1969; September 20, 2009; November 28, 2009	1970 - 1977	1978 - 1983; 1994 special
*see note 1 below

1984 - 1989	1990 - 2002	2003 -

Below is an interesting photograph (c.1965) that was submitted by a visitor to this web site; it shows the Falcons' first-ever draft pick, Tommy Nobis, with a helmet that appears to have on it a different early prototype logo. If anyone has a clearer picture of this design, I would certainly appreciate a copy of it.

Some sources indicate that the Falcons wore a single white stripe on their black helmets during at least one preseason game in 1990; however, I have never seen a single photograph to confirm this, and I now strongly doubt that this is true. One visitor to the site has reported that the alleged white stripe is not present on video from the 1990 preseason game against Green Bay.

*1 The original version of the Falcons helmet included two gold stripes in addition to the black and white stripes; most accounts indicate that these stripes were added to the helmet design to appease Georgia Tech fans who were disgruntled about the fact that red and black, the same colors used by Tech's arch rival, Georgia, were chosen as the Falcons team colors. I have recently received more than one photograph (including the one shown below; thanks to "Pantone" for this picture) verifying this design as having been used during an actual game, so I can safely say that the legitimacy of this reported design is not in doubt. While the Falcons web site does indicate that the gold stripes were actually used at one time, it lists 1967 and 1968 as the correct years, and indicates that the gold stripes bordered directly against the middle black stripe; this does not agree with the appearance of the helmet in photographs.

This design was brought back for use during the 2009 home games against the Carolina and Tampa Bay.

CAROLINA PANTHERS

1995 -

The Panthers' current helmet design is the only one the team has used since it entered the league in 1995.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

1968 (last 12 games)	1969 preseason	1967 - 1968 (first 2 games); 1969 - 1975
*see note 1 below		*see notes 1 & 2 below

1976 - 1999	2000 -

*1 The black-white-black stripe sequence was used throughout the 1967 season and during the first two games of the 1968 regular season; for the third game in 1968, the stripe sequence was switched to white-black-white, and this sequence was used for the remainder of the 1968 season only.

*2 This design was brought back for a home game against Tampa Bay played on December 1, 2002.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

1976 - 1996; November 8, 2009	1997 -
*see note 1 below

*1 The logo used on this design was one of the few to be given a name: "Bucco Bruce". It was designed by Lamar Sparkman, an artist and cartoonist for the Tampa Tribune. The helmet decals for this design were enlarged by "about 25%" in 1992, according to some sources; it is unclear to me whether this stated figure refers to surface area or to length/width.

This design will be brought back for use during the home game against Green Bay on November 8, 2009. .