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Playing It Safe: Football Helmets Then and Now
The earliest football helmets, such as the one pictured here, worn by Gaylord Lee Clark, Sr. 1903, appear to have more in common with aviator caps than the football helmets fans are familiar with today.
The earliest football helmets, such as the one pictured here, worn by Gaylord Lee Clark, Sr. 1903, appear to have more in common with aviator caps than the football helmets fans are familiar with today. This is not surprising considering the first football helmet was commissioned by Admiral Joseph Mason Reeve for the 1893 Army-Navy Game. Having been advised he was risking “instant insanity” or even death if he received one more blow to the head, Admiral Reeve went to his shoemaker and asked him to fashion a moleskin hat with earflaps to protect his head. Reeve’s design later saw action off the field when he presented his concept to the U.S. Navy, which adopted it for use by paratroopers during the First World War.
Football helmets were not widely worn until the 1920s. They were made of soft leather until more protective, hard leather helmets were introduced in the 1930s. Helmets were not required for collegiate play until 1939, the year the plastic football helmet was introduced by John T. Riddell. Although plastic helmets were safer than their leather predecessors, they were difficult to obtain during World War II because of a plastic shortage. The National Football League did not require them until 1943, 50 years after Admiral Reeve debuted his concept at the Army-Navy Game.
After the war, full production resumed, but this new material, while an improvement over its leather predecessors, was not without its shortcomings. In particular, plastic helmets were known to shatter into pieces, due to problems with the plastic compound. After the defect in the plastic formulation was corrected, plastic helmets were reintroduced in the NFL, and padding was added a year later.
Not only have the materials changed since the early years of the football helmet, but their appearance has changed in other ways, as well. Most notably, early football helmets, such as this one, lack the logos, team colors, and player numbers of today. Teams would receive their helmets unadorned, but occasionally players would hand paint helmets, such as this one, to show school spirit or to help the quarterback recognize his receivers. The first team logo to appear on an NFL helmet was hand painted by Los Angeles Rams halfback Fred Gehrke in 1948.
With their face masks, team colors and logos, thick padding, and even hardware for radio communication between the quarterback and his coach, today’s helmets are a far cry from the helmets worn by early 20th century Old Boys. What would Gaylord Lee Clark, Sr. think?
