Steelers Now
Earlier this offseason, it was announced that the Pittsburgh Steelers would have a new alternate uniform that included an alternate helmet. We now know the date that the alternates will be released.
On July 21, the Steelers will unveil new yellow throwback helmets and matching uniforms, according to Andrew Lind of SportsLogos.net. Lind’s sources have indicated the throwback unis will not be their current Color Rush design, but rather more closely resemble the throwback uniforms they wore from 2007 to 2011, as the striping pattern on the sleeves differs slightly.
The Steelers have had had just one helmet since the 2010 season. In 2013, the NFL put in place a one-helmet rule that mandated each team could wear just one helmet shell per season, though they were free to change the design over the shell if they wanted to.
The purpose of the rule was player safety, because the league wanted to ensure full availability of new helmet technology before committing extra resources to alternates. In 2022, the league rescinded the one-helmet policy, meaning that teams can were secondary helmets with alternate uniforms.
Some teams, like the Atlanta Falcons, chose to go with a throwback motif, bringing back their red helmets from the 1970s and 1980s. Others like the Baltimore Ravens, went with a more-futuristic look. Baltimore unveiled a matte purple helmet for the 2025 season. White-base helmets have been worn by the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns in recent years.
The biggest change the Steelers have made in recent years has been wearing gray facemasks with their throwback uniforms in 2025. That was done as the team acknowledged the 50th anniversary of the 1974 Super Bowl IX-winning squad. The Steelers wore gray facemasks for much of their early history before switching to black in 1977.
The last time the Steelers wore an alternate helmet was also a nod to the team’s history. From 2007-09, the Steelers wore gold alternate helmets to match uniforms that were a throwback to their look from 1962 — the first year the steelmark appeared as a logo on one side of the team’s helmets.
The NFL has also changed its policy about how often alternate uniforms can be worn. A change at the 2025 NFL owners meetings now means that teams can wear non-standard uniforms up to four times over the course of a 17-game season.
After the schedule release in May, team president Art Rooney II revealed that the Steelers will wear their alternate uniforms against the Green Bay Packers and Miami Dolphins.
“We are going to have a new throwback uniform this year, and with a new helmet to go with it,” Rooney said in his statement released on the Steelers’ official website.
“We’re planning to wear our new throwbacks for the Packers game on Sunday night, Oct. 26. It’ll be fun to wear our throwbacks against one of the older franchises in the league – that just seems to be appropriate. We’ll be doing our Color Rush uniforms late in the...
