Football Helmet Designs: Far Cooler Than You Thought

Helmet design is a vastly underappreciated aspect of college football. And no small wonder; we as fans have far more important aspects of the game to concern ourselves with. But the variety really is something to behold, if one takes a moment or two to look, the artistic aspects are worth looking back at.

The first major college football team to use an actual design on their helmet was the Michigan Wolverines, and it was done so because it looked ‘intimidating’. It was very similar to today’s design.

1960’s

today

As today’s standards go, there are opposing ends. Some universities choose the most basic and rudimentary color schemes; ironically some of college football’s most historically successful teams, and those with the richest football tradition (Notre Dame and Ohio State, for example) have taken this route.

Notre Dame

Ohio State

Penn State

Many Universities simply use letters from their school’s anagram of choice as a logo…

Georgia Tech

Purdue

Nebraska

(Some do this with just a touch of the artistic)

West Virginia

Cincinnati

Minnesota

Washington State

And a select few who suffer from a noticeable lack of originality….. Well, they just put the name of the team up there.

Illinois

Southern Miss

UNLV

But one you’ve gotten past the old standards, classics, and other boring, unoriginal designs, that’s when you find thos helmets that just stop you in your tracks. Any of us who have played football video games have probably experimented with the ‘build a team’ format at some point; hell, it’s fun. So now, lets take a look at some of the teams and universities that did it in real life. The Ohio States and Floridas of the world may win all of the games, but here are the teams that just plain look good; who needs championships?

First, the present:

Florida State

I’ve always liked the Seminoles Spear; notions of ‘prejudice’ against indians be damned…. hearing 60,000 people do that war chant (click to hear) thing they do and waving these spears is a hell of a tribute.

Oregon State

Some college teams just have really lame mascot names… owls, or in Oregon State’s case, Beavers. But they managed to make their uniform pretty cool, in all black.

Arkansas

Big scary razorback pig. Enough said.

The real gems, though, are in helmets past and in some of the smaller schools; we’ll start with the old school.

Duke Blue Devils (1966-1969)

Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1997-2000)

Army (2008)

Maryland (1997-2000)

Rice Owls (1984)

UAB (Alabama- Birmingham) (1996-2002)

The Army 2008 helmet doesn’t show here, but it was camo. Army, camo? How sweet is that?

But we haven’t gotten to the true artistry yet… the division 2 and 3 schools most of us have never even heard of. And it’s a shame; as you will see, some of these are just Cool.

Gardner Webb (2000-2007)

It’s kind of like the Seahawks helmet, but with a bulldog. How cool is that?

Southern Utah (current)

The Eagle design jut rocks.

Brown (1984-1989)

This just looks like an Ivy League helmet, doesn’t it?

Missouri State (1965-1967)

For starters, it’s a skull and crossbones. And the story kicks ass, too… apparently, the defensive unit was known as the ‘Headhunters’ during this era. (that’s what is says under the skull). That’s intimidation.

Lincoln University (current)

I know it’s just a Bengals rip off. But the blue and white looks better than orange and black.

Shippensburg (current)

It’s an old schooner. That’s unique.

So there you have it; a bit of a history lesson in an area most of us never would have thought there was any history. Always something you can learn about the great game of football. I’ll leave you with these, and no explanation. If you find one you just have to know, leave a comment…