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Denver Broncos new uniforms drop April 22, but will they include white helmets?

Rich Kurtzman
Denver Broncos helmet in 2023.

Denver Broncos helmet in 2023. Credit: Denny Medley, USA TODAY Sports.

There isn’t too much to be excited for about the 2024 Denver Broncos.

They are in serious cap trouble, their starting quarterback is increasingly looking like it’ll be Jarret Stidham, and Denver has a ton of holes to fill in the roster.

The orange and blue will likely experience yet another losing season later this year.

But, one thing Broncos Country can be excited for is their new uniforms.

Broncos announce their new uniforms drop April 22, just before NFL Draft

Broncos fans have long been interested, and possibly obsessed, with the team’s uniforms.

Back in 2012, the team changed from navy tops to predominantly orange jerseys as part of their uniforms. And that’s because fans called for the change.

For most of the team’s history, from 1961-1996, Denver’s uniforms were predominantly orange at home, and white on the road. Then in 1997, the team changed course. Not only did they make the move from orange and royal blue to the darker burnt orange and navy blue, but Nike redesigned the logo as well.

Those navy tops, complete with the interesting striping down the sides of the pants and jerseys, were the home fit from 1997-2011. And since 2012, the team simply went with the orange dominant tops as the home uniforms.

12 years later, and with new ownership, the team is changing their uniforms again.

Broncos President Damani Leech recently explained the team started working on the uniform redesign in Aug. 2022, surveying fans. Then in Jan. 2023, the team reached out to Nike, so this has been a nearly two-year process. Also, players showed leadership mock-ups they saw on social media and provided feedback as well.

Will Denver’s new helmets be white for the first time in team history?

The Broncos have had seven different helmets throughout their history. The first two years it was brown with a yellow number on the sides. Then, from 1962-1966 it was orange with that whacky horse in white. Then it was the best helmet in team history, the royal blue with the D logo, through 1996. Since then, it’s been navy with the white horse head.

And finally, the team has used two alternate helmets: The navy D logo, and last year, the snowcapped helmets. Everyone went wild for the snowcapped look, but will the tea go to white helmets full time?

Some “insiders” have seen the new uniforms thanks to their relationships with former players (Justin Simmons). Specifically, Mario Vetanze:

If those are the new uniforms, they are awful. They look like DII college jerseys, with the mountain shoulder patches and the “5280” numbers on the pants. I also don’t see a realistic possibility the team uses navy tops with orange pants, as this mock-up shows.

Next, the team should not use white helmets for two reasons. First, because Denver has never used a white helmet in their team history. The Bills and Chargers have recently gone to white helmets in a league-wide trend, joining the Colts, Cardinals, and Dolphins. Denver should stick to their roots and keep the helmet blue, or possibly orange.

The second reason they shouldn’t go to white becomes blatantly obvious in the previously shown mock-up picture: The logo is also white. It will be difficult to see, especially on TV, and just doesn’t make sense. The snowcapped helmet with the Denver D logo was fine because the D is orange outlined in blue, but the horse head logo only has a thin outline of navy.

It’s unlikely the mock-ups shared on Twitter today are exactly what the Broncos new uniforms will look like, but there are likely to be some similarities.

UniWatch had a piece about the new uniforms, citing Vetanze as well as “Brady2024” who said many similar things to Vetanze. Namely, the helmets will be white and there will be white on the shoulders of the tops, too.

If their sources are correct, the white helmets are coming. From UniWatch:

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