Winged football helmet
The winged football helmet is a helmet bearing a distinctive two-toned painted design that typically has sharp outward curves over the forehead forming a wing. It is worn most popularly by the University of Michigan Wolverines.
Contents |
[edit] History
The actual history of who invented the winged helmet is largely disputed. Princeton football coach Herbert "Fritz" Crisler is credited with inventing the helmet in 1935, and he brought the design with him to the University of Michigan, where it has since become a national icon of the football program. Crisler had reportedly claimed that the wings aid the quarterback in locating receivers down the field, making them of practical use.
"Michigan had a plain black helmet and we wanted to dress it up a little," Crisler later said. "We added some color and used the same basic helmet I had designed at Princeton. There was a tendency to use different-colored helmets just for receivers in those days, but I always thought that would be as helpful for the defense as for the offense."[1]
Interestingly enough, Michigan State University (an in-state rival to the University of Michigan) also makes a claim that it in fact started the winged helmet, yet the design does not entirely resemble the helmet Crisler started at Princeton and brought to Michigan.[2] This is likely because the definitions of the helmet's "wings" are debated. Several early designs of helmets—made of leather, not hard plastic—utilized sharp or rounded curves jutting out from the forehead. These are sometimes interpreted as the helmet's "wings," which lead some to conclude that Crisler could not have designed the winged helmet. However, Crisler's design featured three stripes that went over the top of the head to the back of the helmet. It is possible that these are the "wings" Crisler and historians refer to because they have an actual impact between the quarterback and receivers.[3]
Numerous school and college football programs around the United States have adopted this same concept without necessarily adopting the "wings." Most helmets feature a single line that goes over the top of the head to the back of the helmet. The reason for this is the same as Crisler's wings: the quarterback sees the line as the receivers run down the field and, when the receiver turns his head, the line disappears, which means that the receiver is either ready to catch the ball or is completing his route. However, Crisler's winged helmet remains unique because it features three lines (or stripes) as opposed to one. The Michigan Wolverines have kept the helmet design since 1938.
While the Wolverines have traditionally and historically held a claim to the winged helmet as their own, several other organizations have adopted the design, usually with a different color scheme. The Princeton Tigers, although abandoning the helmet design after Crisler left in 1938, resurrected the design for their football program in 1998. The University of Delaware's football team, an FCS program, adopted a replica winged helmet design in 1951. Several high school teams across the country have also adopted the design.
A video explaining how Michigan's helmets are painted can be found here: http://www.maizenbluenation.com/2010/08/jon-falk-discusses-michigans-classic.html
[edit] Colleges currently and recently using the winged football helmet
[edit] Division I FBS
- University of Michigan (maize and blue)
[edit] Division I FCS
- Saint Peter's College, New Jersey, before it dropped its football program in 2007
- Princeton University (orange and black) [4]
- University of Delaware (royal blue and gold) [5]
[edit] Division II
- Southwest Baptist University, stopped in 2008[6]
[edit] Division III
[edit] Junior colleges
- Alfred State College (through 2009 season) [11]
- San Bernardino Valley College [12]
[edit] References
- ^ Michigan Winged Helmet, Michigan Tradition: Athletics Website
- ^ Michigan State Claims History of Winged Helmet
- ^ MacCambridge, Michael (2005), ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Game, ESPN, pp. 45–71, ISBN 978-1401337032
- ^ Princeton Football -- Tiger Uniform & Helmet
- ^ Delaware Blue Hens Football
- ^ Southwest Baptist University Football
- ^ Grove City College Football
- ^ Gustavus Adolphus College Football
- ^ Middlebury College Football
- ^ Nichols College Football
- ^ Alfred State football
- ^ San Bernardino Valley College Football, photos
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
