The San Francisco 49ers debuted updated versions of their fan-favorite alternate throwback uniforms during last week's "State of the Franchise" event, adding a "home" red jersey to the existing all-white set. The team had been wearing the white versions of the uniform set during select games in recent seasons.
The uniform itself is a recreation of those worn by the last Super Bowl-winning team during the 1994 season. Those uniforms themselves were inspired by the ones worn by the team in 1955. But, of course, they aren't exact matches. That 1955 squad donned red logo-less helmets.
Apparently, the 49ers are looking into the possibility of bringing back those red helmets to wear occasionally with the alternates. That won't happen this season, which is the team's 75th anniversary.
"If the 49ers were to have another alternate helmet in place for 2022, they would have to submit their proposal to the league by the end of the month," wrote Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports. "They are considering a red helmet worn by the team more than 60 years ago."
It's unknown how well fans would receive red alternate helmets. The gold helmets have become iconic when thinking about the history of the franchise. The NFL recently approved the use of alternate helmets beginning in 2022.
Via NFL.com: "The NFL sent a memo to clubs Thursday announcing that it will allow teams to wear two different helmets beginning in the 2022 season, per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero."
49ers chief marketing officer Alex Chang discussed the helmet decision for future seasons, possibly beginning in 2022.
"There's really two options for us," Chang told Kerr. "Stick with the '94 helmet, which we're already using today and we love that look -- or a 1955 helmet which was a red helmet with a silver stripe and face mask. We're looking at both."
Chang also discussed the long process in bringing back the red throwbacks for the 2021 season.
"The reality is, it takes about two years to make this happen," Chang said. "Even with a design that has already existed, you still need 18 to 24 months to bring it to reality. We started that process in the fall of 2019 to have it ready for this coming season. It not only requires a heads-up to the league, but also a collaboration with it on what the design is.
"You have to involve Nike, get involved with their design team, make sure they are looking at samples with the actual product in hand and how it fits with the current chassis the guys are using for on field, off field and how it looks with the consumer-grade jerseys. It just takes that much time, but for us it worked nicely.
"We wanted to bring this back for our 75th anniversary celebration. We were really happy to have that all timed out."
Chang adds that the 49ers tried to receive approval to wear alternate uniforms for all 17 games in 2021. However, the team ended up being allowed to use them in just six. Four of those will be home games against the Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Rams, and Atlanta Falcons. So you have to imagine the other two games will be road games, during which the team could wear the white versions.
"For now, the plan is to maintain that closet of our standard regular home and away and the '94 reds as our alternate home and our '94 whites as our alternates on the road," Chang said.