Helmet decals

The last thread gave me an idea. Just in case we are ever able to go in that particular direction, it would be nice if we could assemble a catalog of the different helmet decals worn. Even things like the NFL Shield, Super Bowl logos, memorials, anniversaries, whatever.

What we'd need is a digital image of the decal, the year (or games) that it was worn, as well as a photo showing that it was actually worn and where its location on the helmet was. The more obscure, the better.

BTW, I've tried to locate it on the threads but can't. Didn't someone post a thread about Browns helmet decals (there's an oxymoron!) as memorials or something? Just can't locate it. Anyone got a better memory than me? I'm thinking it wasn't its own thread but a post that someone threw into a related thread.

(Note: Found photos of them several posts down. - Bill)

From DVD83 on 7/11/12...

"Just a suggestion to inlcude these for the respective seasons, as I see the Gene Upshaw decal is included for all teams for week 1 of the 2008 season, it would only be appropriate to also show that the team honored Bill Walsh with a black "BW" decal for the 2007 season and two black "34" and "35" football decals for Joe "the Jet" Perry and John Henry Johnson for the 2011 season:"












Digital version of BW...

From BD...

"Certainly nothing resembling a complete list and doesn't include those already posted:

12/92: New York Jets--"a decal with Dennis Byrd's number 90 overlaying an ichthus, the outline of a fish that is an ancient symbol of Christianity, was affixed to every Jet helmet." This started with the 12/6 game and lasted for the final four weeks.

1/97: Super Bowl XXXI--a facsimile autograph ("Pete") on the NFL shield in memory of former commissioner Pete Rozelle who died seven weeks earlier.

11/98: New York Jets--a black football with the name "Weeb" in white letters in memory of former coach Weeb Ewbank. Lasted for the final five weeks and two playoff games, starting with the 11/29 game. It was supposed to start with the 11/22 game, but the box of decals was misplaced/lost at the Tennessee hotel where the team was staying.

8/00: Kansas City Chiefs--"58" in memory of former player Derrick Thomas, who died during the offseason.

9/01: Starting with the second week, all teams wore a flag decal in memory of 9/11.

12/03: Green Bay Packers--a white #3 (presumably with black background) in memory of former player and HOFer Tony Canadeo. Lasted the final four weeks and two playoff games.

12/03: Cleveland Browns--will wear black-and-white decals with (Otto) Graham's retired No. 14 on the back left side of their helmet for their final two games this season."

9/04: All teams wear "40" decal during the second week in memory of Pat Tillman; Arizona wore it all season.

1/05: Green Bay Packers--a white #92 (presumably with black background) in memory of former player Reggie White. Lasted for the final week and one playoff game.

[8/05: Carolina Panthers-- #51 in memory of Sam Mills worn the entire season]

8/05: San Francisco 49ers--#72 in memory of lineman Thomas Herrion, who died after the second exhibition game in Denver. Wore all year, starting with final two preseason games.

8/07: San Francisco 49ers--"BW" in memory of former coach and HOFer Bill Walsh. Wore all year, including all four preseason games.

8/07: New England Patriots--"91" in memory of Marquise Hill, who died during the offseason.

[1/07: DENVER BRONCOS PLAYERS AT THE PRO BOWL WEARING "27" for Darrent Williams.]

8/07: Denver Broncos--"27" and "29" in memory of Darrent Williams and Damien Nash, who died during the offseason.

11/07: All teams wore "21" in memory of Sean Taylor during the week 13 games (11/29-12/3); the Redskins wore it the remainder of the year (already noted)

12/07: Cleveland Browns--"BW" in memory of former player and HOFer Bill Willis. Wore for the last five games of the season.

8/09: Tennessee Titans--"9" in memory of former player Steve McNair. Wore all season, including all five preseason games.

10/09(and 10/10): All teams wore (among other things) pink Breast Cancer awareness logos during their October games.

10/09 (10/08 sic - Bill) : Cleveland Browns--"GH" in memory of former player and HOFer Gene Hickerson. Wore for the last 10 games of the season.

12/09: Cincinnati Bengals--"15" in memory of Chris Henry. Wore for the final three weeks and one playoff game.

**9/11: San Francisco 49ers--"35" and "34" will be worn in memory of former players and HOFers John Henry Johnson and Joe Perry.

***********
Other items:
*In week two of the 2002 season, ONLY the Ravens were allowed to pay tribute to Johny Unitas (who never actually played with them), but none of their tributes involved a memorial sticker (I think). Other teams could have a moment of silence.

*In 2003, the Cowboys supposedly were going to have a helmet decal in the shape of a star with "TEX" in the middle, in memory of former GM Tex Schramm, who had died in the offseason."

Can we find photos of design and placement?
Bill
[strike]

Worn for the last 3 reg season games & 1 playoff game

McNair passed on July 4th. The decal was worn all season.

Bill Willis's decal was worn for the last 5 games of the regular season.





* Notice how much larger Sean Taylor's 21 is in comparison to the BW.

Washington wore the decal for the last 5 games of the season & 1 playoff game, the entire NFL for Week 13 and UM players and several 'friends' of Taylor wore the decal for the rest of the season.

Homemade using Broncos font...




In researching this one, I came across this blurry photo of Champ Bailey at the 2007 Pro Bowl. Darrent Williams passed away in January 2007 just a few days after the Broncos concluded the last game of their season. They did not make the playoffs.


It appears John Lynch is wearing a Darrent Williams decal also - but much clearer.
After looking some more I found this shot of John Lynch and what looks like the Williams patch with 27 also in Broncos font.

Worn for the last 10 reg season games beginning on 10/26.

Al passed October 8 and the patch was worn for the rest of the season after that.

Wearing "#51" in honor of Sam Mills. Sam passed in April 2005 and the team wore the decal that season.



However, the decal posted on the internet (below) does not match the small # sign or the block font of the numbers.


Going to try the homemade route again.

Well, using this photo...


I was able to come up with this with the thin blue outline and a thin white outline around that just like the logo at the time.

The 2003 Browns sticker for Otto Graham:

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/quarterback-tim-couch-of-the-cleveland-browns-is-pressured-news-photo/2826314

The first one I remember seeing, probably b/c the Dolphins were on so much that year.
Overstreet passed in June. The decal was worn all season.

Gordon passed in July. The decal was worn all season.

Last 2 games of the season



***UPDATE***
http://cledawgshome.com/Browns/browns15.htm
This site list a 'Game worn' Browns helmet from DT John Nix.
Part of the helmet's allure is the Otto Graham decal. Notice the curved upper serif on the 1!

McKinley passed on 9/20/2010. Decal would have been worn starting in Week 3 (9/26) vs. Indy.

Reggie passed on 12/26. The Packers wore this yellow decal for 2 games, the last regular season game at Chicago (1/2/05) and the home playoff loss vs. Minny (1/9/05).

As stated by BD Sullivan, the decals were to have been worn 11/22 @Tennessee but were not. They made their first appearance 11/29 vs. Carolina.

91 on a black dot in white Patriots number font.

Coach Stram passed during the summer and the decal was worn all season.

In 2004 the Giants wore a black, football shaped 79 decal for Rosie Brown.






http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-giants-huddle-as-a-team-prior-to-the-cincinnati-bengals-news-photo/51900548


http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/osi-umenyiora-of-the-new-york-giants-warms-up-against-the-news-photo/52007601

DT passed in February 2000 from injuries resulting from a car crash days earlier. The Chiefs wore the decal for the entire season.

White "40" on black dot surrounded by ring of 50 white stars.

TH passed after the Preseason game (8/20) vs. Denver. The 49ers wore the decal for the last 2 Preseason games and the rest of the season.

BBL,
Nice find on the Rosie Brown!
Do we know what it says underneath the 79? "ROSIE"?
Even in this photo I can't tell. Looks like 2 separate letters or words. R and B?


FOUND IT!
Now I just need to make a digital version!


Like this...

Despite never playing for the Ravens franchise, Baltimore was allowed to be the only team to memorialize Unitas with helmet decal during Week 2 of the 2002 season.

The Packers' Tony Canadeo sticker from late 2003--a white "3" with a black background in the shape of a football:

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/greeen-bay-packers-quarterback-brett-favre-celebrates-a-23-news-photo/80794683

The 1992 Dennis Byrd decal is confusing; the first has the two decals on the front of the helmet, whereas the second has them on the back:

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/closeup-of-new-york-jets-helmet-equipment-on-bench-with-90-news-photo/81475167

(Page eight)
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19921207&id=OkJWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gOoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5590,1614835

Here's a photo of the post 9/11 flag decal. However, as you'll see, the Pats also had on a memorial decal for the FDNY that had a silhouette of the WTC. The latter was apparently only used for that first week:

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/adam-vinatieri-of-the-new-england-patriots-has-an-american-news-photo/659835

The Jets also had the silohuette:

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/shane-burton-of-the-new-york-jets-looks-on-during-the-game-news-photo/659836

Oddly, the Giants didn't have it:

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tiki-barber-of-the-new-york-giants-runs-for-yardage-against-news-photo/98884220

While looking for the 'Tex Schramm' star decal, I came across this...
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19880901&id=b98NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8W0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3925,501102

Apparently, due to the link between Art Rooney, Sr. and Tex Schramm (helping Dallas land an expansion franchise), the Cowboys actually wore the "AJR" inside the NFL Shield decal just as the Eagles wore it (Dallas on the helmet back, Eagles on the forehead) when they opened the season at Three Rivers.

This is admittedly a poor and unreadable example of the Schramm decal, but it did exist--they didn't start wearing it until the start of the regular season:

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/head-coach-bill-parcells-of-dallas-cowboys-talks-to-randal-news-photo/2513083

This is one that a lot of people don't know the details about.


What did Michael Irvin, Jimmie Jones, Russell Maryland, & Alfredo Roberts have in common in 1992? They would be joined by Kevin Williams, Bernie Kosar, and Darrin Smith in 1993. They previously also had Alonzo Highsmith and Daniel Stubbs as teammates in 1991. They are all former Miami Hurricanes.

People miss out because Jerome Brown wore #99 as an Eagle - but he wore #98 as a 'Cane. Jerome passed away in '92 after a fatal car accident. Fellow Hurricane Shane Curry was a second round draft pick for the Colts and was killed in May of 1992 after his rookie season. Others have not understood why not all the Cowboys had the 98 and 44 decals - they weren't 'Canes like the others.

Notice these photos show the decals on Michael Irvin and Russell Maryland - 'Canes - but not Aikman or Nate Newton.


Even a Gator (Emmitt Smith) got in on the act...


I wonder if they got fined for these or if other 'Canes in the NFL wore the decals, as well.



I wonder if the Colts did anything to memorialize Curry.

*** - A follow-up...
I made a list of Hurricanes on NFL rosters and tried running them through Getty for 1992.
I came up with this shot of Vinny Testaverde. He clearly has 2 black decals on his helmet. No other Buccaneer had any visible decals like these. (Couldn't find any shots for Craig Erickson or Alonzo Highsmith). Thing is, they don't look like 98 and 44. Almost looks like JB and SC.

Sure enough, the Colts did.
Here is Shane in his #91 uniform during his rookie year (1991) followed by Steve Emtmen carrying his helmet in 1992 with the '91' decal.

Speaking of the Colts, James Dungy, the 18 year old son of Coach Tony Dungy, passed away on December 23.

The Colts wore his initials inside a black horseshoe for the last 2 weeks of the regular season and their playoff loss to the Steelers.

Found these 2 photos...


From which I was able to make this...


As BD Sullivan has pointed out, they did not wear these in the preseason - regular season and playoffs only for this one.

Worn for the last 2 weeks of the regular season and 2 playoff games.

The Jets wore this logo for the rest of the season (4 games) after Byrd's spinal injury. In support, the Bills are said to have also worn the decal against the Jets in NY's first game after the injury. I couldn't find a photo of the Bills for that game confirming it...yet...but I did find this. The article makes me wonder if the Lions wore a decal for Mike Utley in 1991.

Utley was injured on 11/17. Starting with the game on 11/24 the Lions wore this decal for the last 5 regular season games and 2 playoff games. The 3rd photo shows a different placement.



I can't be sure if it was outlined in silver/grey but it seems to make sense. I'll change it if someone can show me a closer photo of the decal.

Selmon passed away 1 week before the start of the NFL season. The Bucs wore the decal for the entire regular season.

This site shows a helmet contains "the makeshift Rusty Chambers memorial sticker on back. A "51" decal is placed on a piece of black tape on back of this helmet. Chambers died in July of 1981 and the team wore his number all season."
http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/Auction_Item.asp?Auction_ID=55112

With the passing of Gaines Adams in January, the Bears wore this black decal with his 99 in it for the entire Pre-, Regular, and Post-Season.


In addition, for the 2 home games (9/27 vs. Green Bay and 11/14 vs. Minnesota) that the Bears wore their 1940s throwback uniform, the jersey did not include the usual "GSH" Halas memorial on the left sleeve. The Bears added a "GSH" decal on their plain navy throwback helmet next to the the black "99" decal noted above.

On 9/19, San Diego's first home game, the Chargers paid tribute to two individuals - Coach Don Coryell and defensive lineman Gary "Big Hands" Johnson for one game.



Of note, when magnified, you will notice in the photo that the decals are not the current navy blue but a lighter shade more similar to that of the early eighties.

This site...http://mickelyantz.com/HawksUnis.html
...alerted me to the presence of this decal. Shurmur came to Seattle with Mike Holmgren for the 1999 season but passed away before they played a game. Silver "FS" adorns a small black decal.

Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson lost his fight with cancer a short time before the Eagles' first Preseason game.
This decal was worn all season.

Might as well take this one out of storage. Each October the NFL 'pinks itself' out for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Pink is on everything!

In June 1995, the Chargers' David Griggs was killed in a car accident. During the 1995 season, San Diego wore his #92:

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/kansas-city-chiefs-vaughn-booker-sacks-the-san-diego-news-photo/51686638

Tragically, the next year they had another memorial decal (#22) for Rodney Culver, who was killed in a May 1996 plane crash:

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/leonard-russell-of-the-san-diego-chargers-points-to-the-news-photo/84561810

In 2007 Quarterback were allowed to have radio communication with their coach/coordinator. In 2008, the dot became a League symbol when a black NFL Shield was slapped on the dot. In addition, one player on defense was allowed to wear the dot. The green dots were and are usually worn on the center ridge of the helmet an the back of the 'head.'

After the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, nearly every player added the US Flag decal to their helmet with very few (if any) exceptions.
All players also wore a flag decal in the 1990 season during Operation Desert Storm.

All players wore the decal in 'celebration' of the game to be played in Mexico City between San Francisco and Arizona.

I can't find any proof of it but I seem to remember a team wearing a memorial decal on their helmets in the shape of a shamrock. I thought it might be for a Rooney or a McCaskey but I haven't been able to turn anything up.

Little help guys? (Or just tell me I'm imagining things.)

Griggs passed away over the summer months. The Chargers wore this white decal all season.