Tampa Bay Buccaneers New Logo and Helmet Rather Lame

Yes, I wrote a blog entry the other day about Tampa Bay changing their helmet and logos, as well as their uniforms.

A part of me, admittedly, was hoping that they would have some kind of return to their older uniforms and logos, when they wore those bright orange jerseys.

But, alas, that was not the case. In fact, their helmets look the same, for the most part. The main difference is that their logo now stands out much more loudly on their helmets, and there are some relatively subtle alterations to it, as well. Looking at it side by side with the previous helmets, the red definitely seems brighter, and stands out much more. That said, it does not look radically different overall, although they will also be the first NFL team to feature chrome face masks. Should be interesting to see how those turn out.

It seemed to me that this was the time that they could have taken advantage of doing something with reddish helmets, although the new helmets do incorporate a whole lot more red than the previous ones did, where the pewter was more dominant. Hate to say it, but the Bucs uniforms since 1997 went from one of the most distinctive and colorful uniforms in sports, to one of the most boring, predictable and formulaic.  But, that's just my opinion.

This much I will say - the helmets do look better than the ones that they have been sporting since 1997, although that's not saying much. Let's see what the uniforms look like, though.

In any case, maybe new uniforms, helmets, and logos will turn the fortunes of the struggling Buccaneers around. They retooled last season, and were supposed to be much better, particularly on the defensive end.

Instead, they dropped their first eight contests, en route to a 4-12 season. Tampa Bay has endured more than their share of such dismal seasons near the bottom of the NFL standings, so I guess trying to shift gears in the offseason by changing their outward look is one means of showing some signal of a change.

Now, if only they could only change their fortunes on the field of play, they really might be onto something then!



"‘More menacing skull’ highlights Tampa Bay Buccaneers giant logo on helmet" by Tim Newcomb of Sports Illustrated, February 20, 2014:

http://nfl.si.com/2014/02/20/tampa-bay-buccaneers-new-logo-nfl/?section=si_latest