The new helmet doesn’t stray far from Cleveland’s classic design with the white, brown and orange colors essentially inverted from their iconic look. White dominates the shell with two dark brown stripes bordering the orange stripe down the middle. A shiny, metallic brown facemask completes the new look.
All-white uniforms with customary orange and brown striping accompany the new helmet, which is not an unfamiliar look for the Browns. However, the brown number with orange shadow piping adds flare to the classic threads.
The club made its pro football debut with all-white helmets in 1946 before switching to its iconic orange shell in 1951. A 1946 patch on the shoulder of this new look honors the Browns’ past.
“We’re super fired up and really excited to have this opportunity to wear an alternate helmet,” executive vice president and partner JW Johnson said, via the team’s website. “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.”
Tuesday’s reveal comes after the team introduced its new “dawg” logo last month, a rendering submitted and voted on by the fans. Cleveland fans also had their voices heard ahead of last season for the club’s midfield logo, and then “Brownie the Elf” appeared on the 50-yard line.
Cleveland has gone through a reimagining in recent years when it comes to its uniform and overall look, and the team is taking advantage of the new alternate helmet rule approved last year. In 2015 the club made a bold move by moving away from its traditional look with the hope of creating a new trend. Ahead of the 2020 season, the Browns went back to the classics while keeping some key details that give it a modern feel.
The end result is one of the cleanest uniforms in the NFL, and it will have a new look to play with in 2023.
