Football Helmets: Facemasks
from How Gear Changed the Game Hosted by How Gear Changed the Game
The story of the facemask is one of change brought about by change. Plastic helmets change blocking and tackling, which brings about a need for facial protection. We explore an extreme case of change at Baylor where a small football player is using his team's new helmets to make big hits. This change and shift to facemasks happens in the NFL, the AFL, the NCAA and in high school football. A coach of the Cleveland Browns enters facemask lore and also gets his name on a patent. Facemasks weren’t standard with plastic helmets but once made mandatory, well, facemasking penalties weren’t existent right away either. Facemasks exists in sporting goods and sports equipment catalogs for years but became common in the 1950s. And when they become commonplace, blocking and tackling change and a new tactic called “bite the ball” becomes the new normal.
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