In a long-requested move, the NFL has approved a new policy allowing teams to use two different helmet designs during the season, according to a report from Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. The rule will begin to take effect in the 2022 season.
In recent years, alternate helmets had been banned, ostensibly for safety reasons. The NFL claimed that players would be less likely to suffer head injuries with a helmet that was “broken in” as opposed to a one-time-use helmet. That allowed some teams to make use of throwback designs through swappable decals, but it shut down the possibility of color-changing designs, like the iconic red charging buffalo design of the 1980-1990’s Buffalo Bills.