Is that what they told you ? <| sep |> They just change the sticker . Honestly , the NFL could afford to paint the helmets too as often as they want which is why I don ' t see the whole throwback thing as being much of an issue . When I found the information , I just Googled Cowboys throwback helmets and there was a good article on it from there , I followed random links . If you look at the various safety stuff , you ' ll see the 37 hour break in , etc . and then it becomes really clear why the NFL doesn ' t want throwbacks it ' s just branding . As the Cowboys said , the 37 hour breakin and throwback helmets can peacefully coexist so the NFL just said nope for safety reasons complete bullshit . Even their memo went into no detail at all . meanwhile . they allow helmet swaps . It ' s just about marketing . To the NFL ' s credit , marketing is important since their primary goal now is to get people in other countries to get into the NFL . they want these soccer loving fools to be identify with teams without being confused .