Ravens Unveil Alternate 'Purple Rising' Helmet
The Baltimore Ravens have just added a stunning new piece to their uniform collection. the highly anticipated 'Purple Rising' helmet will make its debut this season for one special game.
"It's bad-ass man," tight end Mark Andrews commented. Wide receiver Zay Flowers added, "I know we look sweet, I don't even have to see it on camera."
In a recent episode of "The Lounge" podcast, Senior Vice President of Marketing Brad Downs explained the extensive process behind creating the new helmets. "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. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time. 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."
The team considered numerous designs before settling on the final version. "We 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," Downs shared.
Although the exact game when the Ravens will sport the new helmets remains a secret, Downs hinted that the announcement will come later. "We do [know which game], but we're going to save that one. Got to leave the fans wanting a little more. One game is the plan for this year."
The 'Purple Rising' helmet will be paired with the Ravens' color rush uniforms, perfectly complementing the existing look. "We're putting this on top of an existing uniform combination that we have," Downs explained. "We decided not to roll out a new alternate uniform with the alternate helmet."
Head Equipment Manager Kenico Hines played a crucial role in finalizing the design. "It's amazing how quick they can change out facemasks and decals. We looked at every finish you can imagine. We wanted to do something different. We looked at black helmets with different finishes. Just the way this purple color popped with that finish and matches the uniform, it's great. When we got the color and the finish out of the box, it was close to a no-brainer."
A distinctive feature of the new helmet is the forward-facing logo. "The logo will probably be a popular topic of the helmet," Downs noted. "While we don't use this logo a lot, the eyes are very iconic to the gameday experience. Our players run out for intros under the eyes. We felt like it was time to give this logo a little shine, if you will."
The helmet also boasts a gold face mask and gold talon stripes, adding a signature flair. "It wasn't always (going to be) gold," Downs revealed. "We had a black facemask. We had purple facemask options with black helmets. When we landed on the color rush, it made it a no-brainer to bring that gold facemask."
The players' reactions confirmed that the team had made the right choice. "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."
Ravens fans can look forward to seeing their team don the eye-catching 'Purple Rising' helmet in an upcoming game next season, adding an exciting new element to the Ravens' storied uniform tradition.
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