Notre Dame Helmets: Nothing Says Irish Like Flamboyant Headgear

You don't mess with the Notre Dame helmets. They are gold, have always been gold and always will be gold.

But apparently, this doesn't mean that different variations can't be explored. Already this season, we've seen the Fighting Irish unveil new golden helmets that more closely replicate the university's famed Golden Dome. They arrived to mixed reviews, though Bleacher Report's Josh Martin admitted to being a fan.

Surprisingly, Notre Dame has at least one more helmet variation it wants to test out. Via the Notre Dame Football Equipment Room's Twitter feed, it's pictured above.

As you can see, it's a lot like the first helmet variation Notre Dame revealed this year, except with a gigantic shamrock on the side.

Because shamrocks are synonymous with the Irish—get it?

Of course you do. And if you tune in to watch Notre Dame take on Maryland this Saturday at FedEx Field, you'll get to seem what these helmets look like in real time. If you don't already have an HDTV, this is clearly your excuse to buy one.

After all, who knows whether or not we'll ever be lucky to see these new helmets again?

Actually, the truth is that this is not the first time the Irish have featured shamrocks on their helmets. The first shamrock helmets were introduced in 1959 and stayed until 1962. Notre Dame made the switch to a simple gold design in 1964, and it stuck.

At least until the Irish broke out the old shamrock helmets earlier this year at Michigan. As it turned out, switching back to the old helmets didn't bring them much luck, as the Irish lost 35-31. 

Maybe that's why the Irish decided to switch things up a bit. This new design is essentially the same thing as the old design, except way more flamboyant. 

Because, you know, flamboyance is something that comes to mind when you think about Notre Dame football. Knute Rockne, Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz would all approve of these helmets.

Either that, or they wouldn't let their teams be caught dead in these helmets. 

That's because they're ugly as sin.