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Ranking The XFL’s Helmets From Best To Worst

As the XFL gears up to build its future, owner Dany Garcia tweeted out this picture of all 8 XFL Teams’ helmets. With speculation swirling about the relocation of the Wildcats and Vipers, it shed some light on new ownership’s position on the teams.

It seems we’re going to see a lot of continuity here, and this is great news. The XFL’s iconic look was building momentum, and what’s more iconic in football than the helmets? Just for fun, let’s take a look at the spread.

1. New York Guardians

Man, I just love the Guardians’ look. Always been a fan of all-black uniforms, and the helmet just completes the aesthetic. Clean, dynamic, modern. It’s a perfect design for the XFL.

2. Houston Roughnecks

The Roughnecks helm is an instant classic. The matte silver stands out from the rest, and the logo is a great mix of retro and modern. A callback to the Oilers logo, I think it’ll quickly become a staple of the culture in Houston.

3. BattleHawks

I love a good ol’ winged helmet design. St. Louis’ dome is likened with each half of their logo per side, and it just works. BattleHawks fans are among the most fervent so far in the young XFL, and its easy to see why.

4. Renegades

The Cyan on black is crisp. It’s different, and there’s just something about it. The red eyes on the logo just look awesome, and hopefully this is a new mainstay of a long and successful football tradition in Dallas.

5. Dragons

It’s unconventional, and I’m here for it. Seattle’s Dragon breathes fire on its opponents, and looks good doing it. The Dragons aesthetic is unlike anything we’ve seen before in pro football, and just like the XFL, its fresh and funky at the same time.

6. Vipers

While the Vipers’ future home is a bit up in the air, lets not forget all the great moments they had. After a rough start, their team was really shaping up to be something special, and their dual-tone green helmets made them look good doing it. I like the simplistic logo, but I think they missed an opportunity to make a really cool snake’s head logo here.

7. Wildcats

The orange on black is dark and fiery, and even if the LA logo becomes a thing of the past, I’m sure they’ll find a way to make this look good. The color scheme is cool, but LA is struggling to support football teams right now, and I wouldn’t be too surprised if we saw them playing in San next year. Diego? Antonio? Francisco? We’ll see which.

8. Defenders

I think the Defenders all-red aesthetic could work, and while the bolts look great on the uniforms, the helmets are a little underwhelming. Their logo is cool though, and I think adding the full shield to the sides could help beef up their look.


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Matt Nagashima has been covering the XFL since before the 2019 Draft, and has witnessed history being made as a Credentialed Reporter for the Dallas Renegades. While he is engrossed with the X's and O's, the roster building and more, it has always been his goal to keep the players first in mind in coverage, showing the human aspect of this sport behind all the action on the field. With Dany Garcia and Dwayne The Rock Johnson now at the helm, he's excited to see all the opportunities that this league will create for players to showcase their talent and make their dreams come true.

7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. Robert Myles

    August 20, 2020 at 1:53 pm

    Lets keep this league going people, go XFL. XFL Fan For Life.

    • Dan Bischoff

      August 20, 2020 at 7:42 pm

      The Battlehawks have the best helmets and uniforms by far!!

    • gh

      August 25, 2020 at 10:26 am

      YES!! I am looking forward to watching XFL football again!!!!

  2. Dolphus

    August 20, 2020 at 11:01 pm

    I want to know how a helmet logo treats complex problems in a simple way. This guy gets paid to write this shit while neglecting the meaning of the word simplistic. Just say the logo looks “simple,” and stop trying to show off your gender studies degree from arizona tech

  3. William Peters

    August 21, 2020 at 6:29 am

    Yes. I agree. Maybe add the AAF teams later. Rivaries like Tampa-Orlando. LA-SD. Sea-Salt Lake. StL-Memp.Plus SA adds to the Dallas and Houston ravary.

  4. Dude

    August 21, 2020 at 5:32 pm

    There isn’t really a bad helmet. I’m not a fan of the Vipers look at all, but if someone digs it fine…the whole outfit looks like a frog not a snake. Arizona Rattlers of the AFL did the snake thing best. The Dallas helmet looks good, but I think its the jersey that is lacking the right look and needs something more than just black and blue, or dump the black for something else. Guardians are the same, nice helmet, uniform not really there yet. DC isn’t bad either, classic, maybe boring, but the fans seemed to like it.

  5. GH

    August 25, 2020 at 10:23 am

    I’ve been obsessed with the XFL helmets/unis since the first XFL game I saw, and I am very happy the league is gonna have a chance to survive.

    My Helmets-only rankings:

    1) St Louis Battlehawks
    2) Seattle Dragons
    3) NY Guardians
    4) Dallas Renegades
    5) Houston Roughnecks
    6) LA Wildcats
    7) DC Defenders
    8) TB Vipers

    I don’t dislike any of the helmets/uniforms, but maybe I believe some could’ve been executed better. LA chose an awful name, Wildcats, a name which has been beaten to death. And while I don’t LOVE their logo, their color combination goes a long way, as does the original center “stripes”. Their overall uniform’s look would’ve ranked higher. Tampa’s Viper-fangs were a good idea,,but it could’ve stood out more I think, maybe with better contrast among the colors, even though i do like the Citrus-y vibe they give me. DC’s look is probably not varied enough, although the white jersey between the red helmet and red pants would be a nice look. Eh, DC’s overall look is pretty good though…

    If anybody cares, here’s my UNIFORM ranks:

    1) LA Wildcats
    2) St Louis Battlehawks
    3) Dallas Renegades
    4) DC Defenders
    5) Seattle Dragons
    6) NY Guardians**
    7) TB Vipers
    8) Houston Roughnecks**

    Again, I don’t dislike Houston’s uniform, just think the execution is a little “off”, they’re a bit too “busy”. Seattle is a BIT “busy” as well, but their white away look is pretty sharp. Houston’s matte silver helmet is very nice, but they could’ve designed the unis better. Maybe Less or thinner different colored panels down the sides, more contrast. Personally I think the large side-panels I have mentioned cause the home and away uniforms too similar, which is partly why I dislike the gray-instead-of-White away jerseys. I think you should be able to look at a team’s “home” look and their “away” look, without knowing which is which beforehand, and know which is which. I don’t think this is the case with Houston.

    ** – Points off for using gray as away jersey/uniform. I don’t like it, needs to be brighter.

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