Biggest WTFs of Riddell's new NFL helmet designs

Riddell, a company that makes sports stuff, did a little PR move by redesigning all 32 NFL helmets. It's just for fun, and kind of fun to see. Frankly most look good -- and I'm a traditionalist -- but some weird decisions were made too. And I must COMMENT on them.

THE NFL HAS BEEN ORANGIFIED & GOLDIFIED
Presently the NFL has one yellow helmet (Packers) and two orange ones (Bengals and Browns). Riddell changed all that in one weird swoop. The '49ers, Bears, Broncos, Bucs went orange, and Chiefs, Redskins, Steelers, Vikings went gold.

One wonders why.

RIDDELL HATES WHITE HELMETS
I say this with confidence because there are none left. The Cards went shiny red, the Colts went blue, the Dolphins turquoise, the Jets inexplicably gray, the Titans blue.

MORE WEIRD COLOR SWAPPING
No team presently with black helmets (Bears, Falcons, Ravens, Steelers, Jaguars) maintained that color for Riddell's version. While a few teams without black helmets now do (Bengals, Raiders, Saints). A handful of blue helmets went red (Giants, Patriots, Texans), while the only red helmets (Chiefs, Bills) lost their red.

WHY NO RETRO?
Riddell missed a huge opportunity of righting past wrongs. It's well-known truth that, over the years, many old-school helmets have been replaced by inferior ones, for example the Bills' simple red bison on white and the Chargers gold-bolt on white (with powder blue jerseys). The '70s winking bright-orange Buc would have been good for Tampa.

The worst historical offense, by far, is New England replacing their '70s-era helmet of a hiking Patriot in a tri-cornered hat. Riddell should have brought Pat back.

THE IMPROVED
I must say, several helmets are better. The Raiders now have the only black helmet. And it looks really good. The turquoise Dolphins helmet and the Lions' blue-on-blue are both excellent.

THE UNFORGIVABLE
Green Bay losing the yellow, or the Jets going gray for some reason is bad. The bright green Seahawks helmet is a bit much. But the Rams. We didn't need bigger horns. We just need the old blue-on-white version.

THE DEPLORABLY UNFORGIVABLE
The Steelers' going gold is bad, but it can't compare with the Vikings losing their purple. What? The city of Prince lost their purple in favor of a gold helmet. Go away, now.