Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia football revived black jerseys, now's time for silver helmets and throwbacks

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Nov 19, 2016; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Terry Godwin (5) runs against Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns defensive back Reginald Miles (22) during the second half at Sanford Stadium. Georgia defeated Louisiana-Lafayette 35-21. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Georgia football brought back black jersey’s two weeks ago and they’ll wear those jerseys for one game a year now.

A couple weeks ago I wrote a story suggesting that Georgia football should revive the red britches to add to their uniform repertoire. Well why not expend on that thought? And the next logical step is silver helmets and then a throwback uniform.

People say that Georgia has a great traditional uniform with their red helmets specifically, why would they want to change anything? In regards to silver helmets, they are actually traditional. Georgia wore silver helmets throughout the 1940’s up until 1964 when Vince Dooley became head coach.

History

Some of the greatest Georgia football players and teams played in silver helmets. The 1942 Bulldogs won the Rose Bowl and a National Title while Frank Sinkwich won the Heisman in silver helmets.

Charlie Trippi finished second in the Heisman voting in Georgia’s 11-0 season in 1946. John Rauch was setting NCAA passing records on route to a SEC Title in 1948. Fran Tarkenton and the 1959 Bulldogs went 10-1 and won the SEC Championship. All of that in silver helmets.

Georgia football has a rich history, but their uniforms only honors the last 50 years. The Wally Butts era is neglected in Georgia’s uniform rotation besides the silver britches.

The Motivation

As a fan who loves the history of Georgia football, I find it odd that there has not been anything to pay homage to the Sinkwich, Trippi and Rauch era. Sports Illustrated named Georgia football the team of the 1940’s back in 2007. But besides homecoming, Georgia barely does anything to recognize the pre-Vince Dooley Bulldogs.

Even some of the most traditionally clad teams in college football have found opportunities to revive some of their older uniforms. Ohio State and Oklahoma do this very often. Georgia is one of the only other programs in the sport that has a different uniform style that predates their traditional look. And on top of that, they were winners with that pre-traditional style.

We’re already opening up our uniform rotation to include a completely new look, why not add a purely historical style to the rotation?

Execution

If Georgia football was revive the old silver helmets, there’s a few ways they could go about it. One is just a plain helmet, no stripes, no logo, just all silver with a grey face mask. That is what Georgia wore for a majority of the Wally Butts era.

Occasionally a red stripe was added and if the solid silver look is too plain, a red stripe could be used. One year in the early 1960’s, head coach Johnny Griffith put a red block-G on the helmet.

So Georgia could go with a solid silver helmet, silver with red stripe, silver with a red block-G, or a combination of the three. Or they could go with a retro-modern look many NFL teams have resorted to using and wear a silver helmet with the modern power-G.

More from Dawn of the Dawg

Or they could use both, the retro-modern helmet can go with Georgia’s current jersey and pants while the another, more plain silver helmet can go with an equally plain uniform. No stripes or number outlines, it would be a true throwback to the 1940’s.

Georgia will look just like they did when Zeke Bratkowski was throwing passes and the “Round Man” Wally Butts was roaming the sidelines of a 20,000 seat Sanford Stadium.

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