Ranking the 10 Best NFL Helmets of All Time

The NFL has become lax about helmet designs. The 2024 offseason has seen numerous teams add alternate helmet choices to their uniform lineups, ranging from logos to colors.

The NFL is over 100 years old, meaning the league has witnessed helmet designs ranging from leather to modern helmets. While there have been many fun logos and designs, only a few can say they are the best.

Here are the ten greatest NFL helmets of all time:

1 Dallas Cowboys

The star is as iconic as the legacy that comes with it

The Dallas Cowboys are America’s team, and no helmet better represents the NFL than their beautiful star helmets. Blue and silver are an underrated combination on a helmet; the white trim around the star brings it all home.

Although the Cowboys have alternate helmets, perfection is hard to mess with, and these helmets are indeed perfect. Besides the sleek logo, the triple stripe with the centered white strip is one of the best in the league. They always look good under Jerry’s World’s lights and shine like no other.

2 Las Vegas Raiders

The autumn wind is a Raider, and these helmets should never change

Who can hate a raider wearing a leather football helmet? It’s as campy as it is awesome.

The Las Vegas Raiders‘ tri-tipped black shield is an excellent backdrop for the raider and crossed swords. Like the Cowboys, the silver face mask works with the silver helmet. The single black stripe down the center is minimalist enough, but the helmet would seem naked without it.

If the Cowboys’ helmet is all about class, the Raiders’ helmet is about grit and toughness. Oakland? Los Angeles? Las Vegas? It doesn’t matter. The Raiders’ helmet is a forever classic.

3 Cincinnati Bengals

Earning your (tiger) stripes takes on a whole new meaning

The creativity of the Cincinnati Bengals helmet cannot be understated. It could have easily had a Bengal tiger logo or even lettering like their throwbacks, saying, ‘BENGALS.’

Orange and black are another great color combination, and the design is so tiger-coded that a fan can’t mistake them for Halloween colors. Overlooked decisions like not having a stripe running down the middle help make this helmet not seem too cluttered.

The team’s white alternates are also very cool, but the orange and black helmets could easily be a contender for the best helmets in professional football.

4 Philadelphia Eagles

The flying eagle’s wing looks smooth and fast

When it comes to helmet design creativity, the Philadelphia Eagles are hard not to mention. How many high school football teams have ripped off the famous “eagle wing” concept? It is often used because it is one of the many great designs in all sports.

The old-school “Kelly green” helmets are classic, but the darker green helmets with a black outline look better under the lights and the sun. Even the little silver detailing on the feathers makes this helmet look fast.

It is hard to imagine the team changing to something new, but there is a lot to work with regarding this design, so who could blame them for trying to modernize the helmet?

5 Los Angeles Chargers

A lightning bolt that will supercharge any fan base.

The Los Angeles Chargers have had countless great helmet variations, but the best is the white helmet, yellow face mask, and no numbers. It’s as clean as it gets.

One thing about the Chargers helmets (and uniforms) is that they always pop with vibrancy thanks to the yellow. The baby blues are the best iteration, and having the lightning bolt outlined in that color helps bring it all together.

Maybe, one day soon, they’ll return to these classics without the individual numbers below the bolt, which has always seemed too much like college football.

6 Minnesota Vikings

Skol! Skol! Skol!

The Minnesota Vikings have had solid variations, but nothing touches the dark purple helmets that shine under the lights. The “Purple People Eaters” are simple but effective. While so many teams have a logo or lettering on their helmets, the Vikings have awesome Viking horns on both sides of their helmets.

The design looks great, and the white pops with the darker purple. The team still wears these throwbacks occasionally, and they look incredible under the lights at night or in a dome.

7 Atlanta Falcons

The best red helmets in the business

If one team on this list should revert to permanent throwbacks, it is the Atlanta Falcons. The red helmets are elite compared to their current helmet and uniform design. Plus, the minimalist falcon design is better than the one with red interior coloring.

Too much red can be bad, so the red helmets with black jerseys and white pants make a statement. However, focusing on the helmet, the triple stripe with the black inner line and outer white lines makes sense for the uniform design. None of it seems random, and all works as a cohesive design.

Falcons fans need to start petitioning to bring these babies back.

8 Los Angeles Rams

The modern Los Angeles Rams helmets are pretty great, and the curling horns are classic, but the best are the darker helmets that emphasize the yellow horns. Perhaps Eric Dickerson just made them look tougher than they are, but there is an indescribable toughness that these helmets bring to the football field.

Like the Vikings and Eagles, this style of having a mascot’s physical feature on the helmet never gets old. It beats just having a logo of the mascot slapped on the side of a helmet.

Also, blue and yellow are simply a sweet color combo.

9 New England Patriots

Pat Patriot is the greatest mascot that needs to return

The best helmet logo on this list has to be the New England Patriots old-school Pat Patriot. The logo carries the helmet because the white helmet is particularly creative, and the triple stripe with an empty middle and two red lines isn’t exactly cohesive.

There’s something very wrong with a team called the Patriots wearing red jerseys (red coats). So, if the team ever brings Pat back, they should wear blue jerseys like the logo, white pants, and red socks.

10 Houston Oilers

The simple design is actually one of the best

Before the Houston Texans (and before the Volunteer State got the Tennessee Titans), the NFL had the Houston Oilers.

The old-school Oilers’ helmets, with the Columbia blue, white, and scarlet color scheme, were tremendous.

Even the logo is minimalist and superior to many current logos in the NFL. The XFL Houston Roughnecks even paid homage to this classic logo because it is so good.

The Tennessee Titans should strongly consider adopting this color scheme permanently and go for a more minimalist design like the oil rig. Maybe just a sword or the letter “T” in the form of a sword.

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