Alabama football hasn’t worn white helmets since Ray Perkins was the Crimson Tide’s coach in 1984. And if one of the Crimson Tide’s best players is right, that streak will continue.
An image that appeared to be a white UA helmet made the rounds on social media this offseason. However, Alabama safety Bray Hubbard, speaking Wednesday at SEC media days in Tampa, said that photo didn’t look real to him.
“I don’t know where that picture came from,” Hubbard said when asked about the prospect of white helmets. “I was like, that’s none of our equipment stuff. We would have heard about it before anything and we never heard anything, so I don’t know. It could have been AI with everything AI these days, there ain’t no telling.”
Zabien Brown breaks down what was going through his mind during his 99-yd pick-six vs. Tennessee
“I don’t know where that picture came from,” Hubbard said when asked about the prospect of white helmets. “I was like, that’s none of our equipment stuff. We would have heard about it before anything and we never heard anything, so I don’t know. It could have been AI with everything AI these days, there ain’t no telling.”
Alabama wore white helmets in the 1960s and early 1970s under head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. The look was mothballed until Perkins brought it back for select games.
However, it has completely disappeared from the rotation since then. Nick Saban never expressed any interest in alternate uniforms throughout his tenure, during which the Tide wore exclusively Crimson helmets.
In 2024, current head coach Kalen DeBoer said no big changes were forthcoming on the helmet front. His only move has been to add captains patches to Alabama’s jerseys, a change made possible by his preference for naming permanent captains at the beginning of a season.
“You know, there’s just a lot of pride in who we are and I’m sure that somewhere in the history, you can point to different-colored helmets being worn and maybe someone is for that,” DeBoer said at the time. “But right now, we’re just keeping the focus on the main thing and that’s our play on the field and representing the crimson helmet the way we can, in the best way possible.”
