NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
NATIONAL CONFERENCE WEST
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| ARIZONA | ST. LOUIS | SAN FRANCISCO |
| CARDINALS | RAMS | 49ERS |
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| SEATTLE |
| SEAHAWKS |
COMMENTS
The Arizona Cardinals have updated their logo and adopted uniform changes for the 2005 season. The new uniforms, including the new helmet above, were unveiled Spring 2005. The Cards wore helmets with the updated logo in the 2005 Pro Bowl.
ARIZONA CARDINALS
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| 1957 | 1960; | 1961 - 2004 |
| 1994 special |
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2005 Pro Bowl, |
| 2005 - present |
The Cardinals have longest-running design in the NFL. The plain white helmet above was used by the team for the first game in 1960. The Cardinal head logo made its debut the following week. The Cardinals may have worn the red helmets in 1957, and before that in 1949. There is photographic evidence for the red helmet, but it is mostly football cards which were often re-colored and not the most accurate references at the time.
The Cardinals were based in Chicago prior to 1960, when they moved to St. Louis, MO. The team moved to Phoenix, AZ for the 1987 season, and played as the Phoenix Cardinals for several years before changing their title to the Arizona Cardinals.
As stated above, the Cardinals have changed their uniforms for 2005. The helmet was first used in the 2005 Pro Bowl by Cardinal player Bertrand Berry.
ST. LOUIS RAMS
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| 1950 - 1964 | 1965 - 1972 | 1973 - 1980 |
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| 1981 - 1999 | 2000 - present |
The Rams were based in Cleveland from 1937 until 1945, when they moved to Los Angeles and became the NFL's first west coast team. In 1995, the team moved to St. Louis.
Many credit the Rams with being the first pro team to wear a logo on their helmets. In 1948, player Fred Gehrke painted ram horns similar to those above on his leather helmet. The rest, as they say, is history.
There is actually no noticeable difference between the 1950-1963 and 1973-1980 helmets. However, there have been some changes to the ram horn decal over the years, including the placement of the horns in relation to the ear holes and possibly having notched horns in 1949.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
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| 1953 - 1955 | 1956 - 1957 | 1958 - 1959 |
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| 1960 - 1962 | 1962 - 1963 | 1964 - 1990 |
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| 1991 (?) - 1995; | 1996 - present |
| 2002 special |
The 49ers played in the AAFC, an NFL rival, from 1945 until 1949, when the two leagues merged. The red oval "SF" logo was first worn sometime after the first game of the 1962 season. In 1991, the Niners nearly changed their logo, but public outcry was so great, they withdrew the design a day after it was introduced. Instead, they simple added a black outline to the interlocking "SF" in the logo. You can see the rejected helmet at the NFL Prototypes page.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
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| 1976 - 1982 | 1983 - 2001 | 2002 - present |
The Seahawks came into the league as part of expansion along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976. When the team changed their uniforms in 2002, fans got to vote for the helmet, choosing between the blue helmet above and a silver version. The silver prototype can be seen on the NFL Prototypes page.