Evolution of the football helmet, including those emblems we’re so used to seeing

Pro football teams didn’t always sport their identification on their helmets. The first team to do so was the Los Angeles Rams, who 70 years ago put an emblem on their headgear. Today’s football helmets have come a long way in the past seven decades. Let’s take a look at their form and function.

A 1948 Rams helmet was bought at auction by SCP Auctions in January 2017 for more than $9,500.

Scoring with art

Los Angeles Rams halfback Fred Gehrke was an artist and designer in the offseason. He took it upon himself to make the Rams’ brown leather helmets a bit more exciting. He used chalk to outline the spiral ram’s horn shape, painted blue and yellow horns, then presented the design to team owner Dan Reeves.

Reeves approved and offered to pay Gehrke $1 per helmet. Gehrke spent the summer painting, and the new helmets were well-received when the Rams played their first intersquad exhibition game in 1948.

The NFL switched to plastic helmets in 1949, and the Rams continued to use the emblem but changed the colors to red and yellow.

Protection through the years

2010sHelmets are tested by the NFL and scientists for significant reduction in impact forces. The highest ranked helmet in 2018 for safety was the VICIS Zero1. These cost about $950 on the company’s website.

Features of the VICIS Zero 1 helmet:1. Absorbs impact load by locally deforming, like a car bumper. It is the first football helmet to use this technology.2. A system of columns absorbs impact.3. There are three shells available, for heads of different sizes and shapes.4. A waterproof foam liner conforms to a player’s head topography.Several Seattle Seahawks experimenting with the new helmet told GeekWire.com that the helmet is a little heavier than others, but impacts were more comfortable.

 

Sources: NFL, billsportsmaps.com, Pro Football Hall of Fame, NJ.com, UniWatch, SCP Auctions, Vicis