The Broncos don’t have logos on their helmets, but it’s not about being ‘anonymous donors’
May 13, 2023, 4:32 PM
If you dig back far enough in Broncos history, you can see pictures of the team practicing without logos on their helmets. But it takes some foraging … all the way back to the Dan Reeves era.
Since the Broncos transitioned to navy-blue helmets and a horse-head logo, however, the logo has been there. Even for offseason practices. And even for rookie minicamp, too. You might only get a tryout, but you’ll sport a Broncos logo on your helmet for at least a day.
Not anymore.
When Broncos players went through the practice paces Saturday, the logos were absent. The helmet stripes that come to a point on the front of the helmet remained. But the familiar horse head went missing.
This is how Sean Payton does it.
His Saints didn’t typically put the fleur-de-lis on their helmets until it was time to play a preseason game. It’s the way he operated in New Orleans for 16 seasons.
And the Payton Way — once the Saints Way — is now the Broncos Way.
As Payton noted Saturday, it’s “what we’ve always done.”
But that doesn’t mean it’s about leaning into the coach’s desire for his new team to be “anonymous donors” as it goes about its offseason paces.
“It’s not like to say you haven’t earned it, because these logos aren’t going to be on for any of them this whole offseason. There’s just no reason,” Payton said. “I think everyone knows they’re all Denver Bronco players. There’s no confusion. But I think more just practical.”
And it does make things easier on the equipment staff.
“I mean, yeah, it’s the spring, so the equipment guys have got to begin putting stuff on helmets or not,” he said. “There’s nothing significant about that, other than … it’s really just simply a functional decision. Let’s make sure we’ve got the tape on the front with their last name.”
So, on Saturday, each player had a sticker on the front of their helmet with their surname. It makes it easier for coaches and staff as they learn the new players.
But helmet logos will have to wait until the summer.
Does it mean anything? In the grand scheme of things, no. Other Payton alterations matter far more. But it reveals the depth and breadth of Payton’s impact on the Broncos’ operations.
Their offseason regimen is different. Their pre-practice calisthenics are altered. Even their travel will change; Payton noted Saturday that after a prime-time game on the road — such as at Buffalo in Week 10 — the team will be inclined to stay in Buffalo that night and fly home the following day rather than returning to Denver as soon as the plane could be loaded after the game.
It’s probably easier to document what remained the same.
But if the difference results in ending the six-season streak of losing seasons, every alteration — large or small — will be justified.
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