The Antonio Brown helmet story has been one of the craziest stories that we’ve seen in pro sports in a while. The only thing is…well…I’m actually kind of on Antonio Brown’s side here. I mean I don’t think it’s that crazy for a guy who has worn the same helmet for his entire NFL career so far is not necessarily eager to suddenly have to throw a new helmet on this year. A new team for the first time and a new helmet? That’s a lot of change for a guy who probably doesn’t like to change what he does too often. I mean the way he’s going about it is definitely like a crazy person. But if you look around at any sport and find the guys who are at the top, they’re all pretty superstitious dudes who are creatures of habit. It’s part of the reason why they’ve gotten so good at what they do. So it makes plenty of sense that Antonio Brown would rather keep wearing the same helmet he’s always been wearing.  He’s comfortable in it, I’m sure he feels like he can see better in it, I’m sure he likes the weight of it on his head. People think it’s as simple as just throwing on a different hat or something like that but it’s not. He’s a receiver and he needs to be able to see the ball and not feel like he’s wearing a ton of bricks on his head. Now that I think about it, I’m fully on AB’s side.

And with that being the case, there are a few guys throughout the history of the NHL who probably could have used some of AB’s stubbornness when it came to switching buckets. Most of these guys are all legends so changing helmets didn’t completely derail their careers. But we’ll just never know how great they could have been if they had stayed with their originals.

5. Dany Heatley

Dany Heatley. Fuckin’ All Star. Buddy scored 50 in ’07 and don’t you ever forget it. Obviously the man has a missile launcher for a shot, and he had hands made out of the finest silk to man. But if you don’t think that rocking a Bauer 4500 played a major role in him being the greatest hockey player of all time during that season, then you’re just an ignorant slut. Especially because I feel like we can track the downfall of Heater’s career down to the moment that he switched into this Easton lid.

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I mean he had a couple solid seasons in the Easton, but he never cracked 50 again. And when he started to really fall off, it happened pretty damn quick. Was it all the Easton’s fault? You be the judge.

3-4. Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr

Little 2-for-1 special here. Like I mentioned above, these dudes are all legends so it’s not like changing helmets made THAT much of an impact on their careers. But could you imagine what life would be like if we got a few more years out of Lemieux and Jagr rocking the JOFA buckets together? Good lord. They would have dummied the league for at least another 2 or 3 Cups. As a Flyers fan, I’m not mad about it. But as a hockey fan and especially a hockey style fan? It pains me to my core. Now personally, I think that Jagr’s transition out of that helmet was a little smoother. He stayed with JOFA for a while, and I feel like the Rbk/CCM helmet is just as iconic of a look for him today as the JOFA was then.

What a beauty.

But for Lemieux…well I just try to do everything in my power to forget the days when he made the switch over to this Nike helmet.

Can’t believe that one of the greatest of all time would be forced to wear such a thing. Truly devastating.

2. Sergei Fedorov

Speaking of Nike helmets…there may have never been a bigger steeze hound in hockey history than Sergei Fedorov. As far as style goes, Fedorov is The Great One. Between the white skates, the tongue flop, the skating style in general, and the helmet, he was an absolute force out there. Nobody has ever looked better on a sheet of ice than Sergei Fedorov did.

Unfortunately, that all came crashing down once Nike got themselves out of the hockey biz. Because once Fedorov did the unthinkable and switched over to an Itech/Mission helmets? It was all over.

I mean it wasn’t completely horrific. And out of everybody in the world, Fedorov was probably the best at pulling off the tinted visor. But it still wasn’t great. He went from the most legendary look of all time to just being a guy who looks alright out there. Sad!

1. Everybody On The District 5 Ducks

I have been a Gordon Bombay supporter all of my life. Even when the haters and the losers go out of their way to try to tear this man down, I have been there to defend him every step of the way. However…if there’s one knock that I have on Bombay, it’s that little rich boy really ruined the whole team’s style once he took the squad on a shopping spree and got everybody new gear. We had football helmets. We had bike helmets. We had helmets that looked like they were purchased at a garage sale in 1973. Granted, he hooked all the boys (and girls) up with some Cooper buckets so at least they still looked alright. But if these kids were able to get away without wearing shields or visors or cages at the age of like 11 or 12, you should have just let them stick with it. I have no idea what the rules for this league were, but who cares? Fuck safety. No cage gang for life.

@BarstoolJordie