Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers doesn't like new helmet, says 'it looks like a darn spaceship out there'

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When he decided to play a 21st NFL season, Aaron Rodgers outlasted another seasoned veteran: his helmet.

The NFL’s annual laboratory testing finally forced the retirement of Rodgers’ preferred helmet model, the Schutt Air XP Pro Q11 LTD, a 2012 version of Rodgers’ helmet of choice throughout his two decade-long career. That meant Rodgers would need to try a few different models — while still being perhaps the only active player to wear the soft cup chin strap — before the start of the 2025 campaign.

So far, he’s not having fun shopping.

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“Yeah, I still don’t like it,” Rodgers said, via team transcript. “No, I’m trying to change. We’re in the process still. It looks like a darn spaceship out there.

“We have to change it. The face mask doesn’t fit the helmet because that’s an old face mask obviously just like I’m old, but we’re trying to find the right helmet right now.”

The combination of an old (and incredibly simple) facemask with a new helmet model has indeed made for a cartoonish appearance for Rodgers resembling the Great Gazoo character from The Flintstones. It’s the best he could do to assemble the most familiar setup possible, but even Rodgers has admitted he’ll have to accept at least some change.

“I can’t stand the helmet,” Rodgers said in June, via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “I’ve worn a Schutt for 20 years and somehow it finally didn’t pass the safety standard.”

The model Rodgers wore lasted remarkably long given the NFL’s rigorous testing and safety standards, which routinely force the retirement of newer models than Rodgers’ Q11. Fortunately for the quarterback, he’ll have a few more weeks to figure out what he wants to wear before the season begins.

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