What the 49ers helmets could have been but never was

March 17, 11:15 AMSan Francisco 49ers ExaminerSamuel Lam

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This is a rare photo of the original prototype for the 49ers helmet in the mid-90s. Glad this design got shot down.
(From the book Colors: Pro Football Uniforms of the Past and Present/Paul Lukas)

For some of you who aren't familiar with my infatuation with football uniforms, I think this might be something that we can all have a good laugh at.

Daily, I visit Uni Watch Blog; a blog dedicated to the "aesthetics of athletics". Basically, the site features past, present and future logos, uniforms and stadium designs among other things. The site owner, Paul Lukas (who also writes for ESPN.com's Page 2) recently got his hand on the book Pro Football Uniforms of the Past and Present. The book features the uniform history of many teams and it did point out two very interesting photos.

With all this "new uniform" talk for the team, it was interesting to see the proposed helmet (above picture) the 49ers were considering. Well, I'm just glad that this helmet never saw the field. This is the only time, I believe, that the 49ers ever displayed this helmet. The idea was scrapped and the 49ers went with these instead. Good call.

Also, it was really nice to see this image. Notice Rice's tongue on his shoe. Now that's getting a shoe customized!

What's interesting about this image is the number. Notice that the numbering is thicker than the following season's numbering. And that 50th anniversary patch is just a beauty, isn't it?

Thanks for checking in folks. I'll get to today's 49ers happenings in a bit.