Baltimore Ravens unveil new 'Purple Rising' alternate helmet

The Baltimore Ravens are taking full advantage of the league’s new third helmet policy, revealing a new alternate helmet on Tuesday. The new helmet, dubbed ‘Purple Rising,’ will come into play for one game during the 2024 NFL season. Though the Ravens won’t pair the alternate helmet with a brand-new alternate uniform just yet, those plans are in the works.

According to Senior Vice President of Marketing Brad Downs, the Ravens narrowed the options down to the Purple Rising helmet after seeing 14 potential candidates. The headgear features two gold stripes across the top, a gold face mask and a unique front-facing logo of Poe the mascot.

“We pay attention to all of that feedback from the fans, to really try to land on something they’re going to love,” Downs said. “… We know our fans have clamored for it. They just like new stuff. But our uniforms have a nice traditional feel and we’ve had a lot of success in them. We don’t want to be that team that changes all the time. We like the tradition that we’ve built.”

This Fall, Purple Will Rise😈

Introducing our new alternate helmet❗ pic.twitter.com/215Szl8rBK

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) June 18, 2024

“We’ve thought about this for years. I think I had at least 14 options of helmets, and that doesn’t even include swapping decals, locals, stripes. We narrowed it down to two, and this is the direction that we went.”

Helmet design is player-approved

Several players provided comment on the new look on Tuesday, including Mark Andrews who called it “bad ass.”

“I know we look sweet, I don’t even have to see it on camera,” wide receiver Zay Flowers said with Nate Wiggins adding, “This is the one right here.”

“Seeing the players’ reaction was pretty cool,” Downs said. “A little bit of validation, because you never know. There’s going to be people that wanted a white version, that wanted a different black version, maybe wanted a gold version. It’s a bit validating to see their reaction, it’s cool.”

The Ravens have not yet revealed which game the team will sport the new alternate in, but fans do know now that it will be for just one game this season.

NFL now allowing third helmet option

The NFL has revised its uniform policy, allowing teams to have a third helmet. All 32 teams received a memo from the league this offseason that said teams going through a re-design process for the 2024 season have been offered a third helmet option. It will be available for all teams in 2025.

If a team wants to use a third helmet for the 2025 season, they have to inform the league no later than May 1, 2024. The second and third helmets can only go with the team’s authorized optimal uniforms (classic, alternate and/or color rush).

“If either alternate color helmet is paired with a Classic uniform, the helmet colors and designs must be historically compatible,” the memo states, via Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network.

The memo also stated that teams must obtain a new set of alternate color helmets for all players. The helmets must be the same make, model and size as the applicable player’s primary helmet. When training camp begins, the alternate color helmets must be available to all players. They also need to be worn in practice at a minimum during the week leading up to game day.

In 2021, the NFL approved a change in the uniform policy, allowing alternate helmets for the 2022 season. 13 teams wore alternate helmets in 2022, and more teams added alternate looks last year.

On3’s Brian Jones contributed to this report.