Winged Football Helmet
Encyclopedia
Football helmet
A football helmet is a protective device used primarily in American football and Canadian football. It consists of a hard plastic top with thick padding on the inside, a face mask made of one or more plastic bars, and a chinstrap. Some players add polycarbonate visors to their helmets, which are...
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
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
.
History
The actual history of who invented the winged helmet is largely disputed. Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
football coach Herbert "Fritz" Crisler
Fritz Crisler
Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler was an American football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed two-platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of...
is credited with inventing the helmet in 1935, and he brought the design with him to the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of 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."
Interestingly enough, Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
(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. 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.
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
Princeton Tigers football
The Princeton Tigers football program represents Princeton University college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision...
, 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
Colleges currently and recently using the winged football helmet
Division I FCS
- Saint Peter's College, New Jersey, before it dropped its football program in 2007
- Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(orange and black) - University of Delaware (royal blue and gold)
Division III
- Grove City CollegeGrove City CollegeGrove City College is a Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania, about north of Pittsburgh. According to the College Bulletin, its stated three-fold mission is to provide an excellent education at an affordable price in a thoroughly Christian environment...
- Gustavus Adolphus CollegeGustavus Adolphus CollegeGustavus Adolphus College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States. A coeducational, four-year, residential institution, it was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans. To this day the school is firmly...
- Middlebury CollegeMiddlebury CollegeMiddlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
- Nichols CollegeNichols CollegeNichols College is a private, co-educational, four-year institution of higher learning that is located in Dudley, Massachusetts.Nichols has many diverse majors that mainly focus on business and liberal arts. The school also offers an MBA program for graduate students.Nichols College athletics...
Junior colleges
- Alfred State CollegeAlfred State CollegeAlfred State College is a State University of New York College of Technology located in Alfred, New York in Allegany County. This college, formerly the Agricultural and Technical College at Alfred, now grants baccalaureate degrees in 18 areas, associate degrees in nearly 60 areas, as well as a...
(through 2009 season) - San Bernardino Valley CollegeSan Bernardino Valley CollegeSan Bernardino Valley College is a community college located in San Bernardino, California. It is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The two-year college has an enrollment of approximately 25,000 students and covers...
External links
http://www.spartanjerseys.com/michigan-state-football-jersey-helmet/winged-helmet