Worst Football Helmets You've Never Seen

Some of the worst NFL helmet designs.

As we discovered in our list of the coolest football helmet designs you've never seen... You'll find it right next to this article.... there is a flip side to that coin. While there are some helmet designs, especially as you filter your way down to some of the smaller schools and arena leagues.... more so if you take the time to look back in time... that are absolute works of art, there are also some that fall on the other end of the spectrum.

Some are just plain ugly. Don't get upset if you find your team on this list... as a Packers fan, I can tell you that our yellow helmets with a boring @ss G on them aren't exactly an artistic masterpiece. But the truth is some of them are just... bad. Some look like they were drawn by a four year old; scroll on down, you'll see what I mean. Look at the Florida State sample down there; while the spear they currently use is one of the best helmets in all of football in my opinion, the one down there.... yeah, it's bad.

Some go beyond that; some you look at the finished product, and you find yourself asking.... who in the hell saw this and thought "Yup. Our team needs to parade this in front of a crowd?"

Join us on this trip as well... a look at some of the worst helmet designs you've never seen.

The first group are helmets from up north in Canada... and oddly, nearly every team up there has a representative on our list.

*All images free for use courtesy of http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/*

Saskatchewan Roughriders

It's hard to tell if this is a helmet or a Christmas ornament.

Montreal Alouettes

I have no idea what an Alouette is. This helmet does nothing to change that.

Toronto Argonauts

A team named after a mythological character and they turned a football into a boat.

Winnepeg Blue Bombers

Did they splatter paint this thing?

Now on to Areana football teams. I had no idea how many of them there are and have been... but I can tell you they aren't afraid to push the artistic envelope with helmet designs. This has produced some of the coolest helmets you'll see....

And some of the God awful worst.

Birmingham Brigade

Not sure how squiggly likes = Brigade.

Daytona Beach Thunderbirds

Is that bird dead??

South Georgia Wildcats

The wildcat looks more like a lion.

Now onto College football... we start with the FBS schools. Not just current, but helmets they've sported in the past.

Temple Owls

It isn't just that it's an owl... it's that the owl looks like it has rabies.

Tulane Green Wave

Why is the wave green? And why is it so... Cartoon-ish?

Florida State Seminoles

This looks like one of those bad tattoos some people get when they're young. Done by a drunk guy.

Virginia Tech Hokies

Tech has had some amazing helmets over time. This is not one of them.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

This is what happened when they got creative in the 70s.

Maryland Terrapins

The Terps were one of the first BCS schools to go batsh*t crazy with helmet design, and it was terrible. Like they tried to cram as much as they could into it.

Michigan State Spartans

Sparty's logo today is one of the cooler versions of this theme. This earlier version was awful.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Another stupidly cartoonish logo.

Northwestern Wildcats

Someone thought this was cool calligraphy, maybe. They were wrong.

Baylor Bears

Why is the stupid little grumpy bear wearing a sailor's hat?

Iowa State Cyclones

The Cyclones' helmet had a cardinal instead of a cyclone because... one of their colors is 'cardinal'. Um?

Kansas Jayhawks

Is a Jayhawk an actual thing? And do they actually look like that??

Charlotte 49ers

Another just silly cartoon logo.

FIU Panthers

It looks like the 80's threw up on this helmet.

North Texas Mean Green

I think it's a bird? Drawn by a kid.

UTEP Miners

What is the Miner riding?

Louisville Cardinals

Bowling Green Eagles

Boise State Broncos

Arizona Wildcats

Appalachian State Mountaineers

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Some of the most historic programs... Ohio State, Penn State, and the Irish, have boring, single color helmets. Sometimes it's interesting when they experiment. This one, however? Just a very bad idea.

Now on to the smaller schools of the FCS. If you're a big sports fan you've no doubt heard many of these names, most likely moreso because of their basketball teams.

Sacramento State Hornets

Who decided to send their team out with the word "sac" on their helmet? Too close to "sack" for me.

North Alabama Lions

Purple with random stars? The Lions?

Northern Iowa Panthers

It's kind of a Seahawks ripoff... there are a surprising number of teams who use that design. But this one just sucks.

Fordham Rams

A candy cane? Barber pole?

Dayton Flyers

The little loopy thing on the Y just annoys me.

The Citadel Bulldogs

Just... the Dogs. Now look at the next team.

Western Carolina Catamounts

So.... the Cats vs. The Dogs... and they were in the same conference, so that happened. Yes, I checked. And looked for video of it. There was none. God, but that would have been a hilarious game to watch.

Lamar Cardinals

There are an odd number of teams called the Cardinals with ugly helmet designs. This might be the worst.

And now on to Division II... A lot of schools I had never heard of. But it seems like in a lot of cases, the more obscure the school, the more willing they are to be creative here.