Western Michigan spray paints Boise State Pro Combat helmets, unveils as “new design”

The Western Michigan athletic department announced Friday that the Broncos would be wearing a new football helmet in the 2013 season:

Western Michigan football unveiled a new helmet logo for 2013 combining new age swag with old school tradition.

WMU is adopting a new look for the upcoming fall with an all brown Bronco logo that wraps around the traditional gold helmet with the logo starting above the all brown facemask on the right side (when looking at the helmet head on), wrapping back to the center bottom of the helmet.

On the left side will be the player’s number, which will stand alone. This helmet will be the primary helmet for the Broncos moving forward and will be worn with almost all uniform combinations.

Despite attempts by Western Michigan and Nike to convince us that the Broncos’ helmet design is new, anyone who has watched a college football game in the last three years will immediately recognize it as the Nike Pro Combat helmet worn by Boise State, only toned down with varying shades of tan in order to avoid offending the sensitive sensibilities of Midwesterners:

Boise State, of course, also has the bronco as its mascot, and used the logo above on both its 2010 and 2011 Pro Combat helmets. Nike apparently just made a ton of bronco helmet stickers and found a willing buyer for its surplus inventory. That’s Business 101, Phil Knight style.

Western Michigan’s 2013 schedule features three September road games against Big Ten teams, so you should be seeing plenty of these helmets next to “Western Michigan upsets Big Ten opponent” headlines on your televisions early next season.