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The First Football Helmet was Created
George "Rose" Barklay was the first person to begin wearing straps or padding to protect his head during football games. He was a national champion at Lafayette College for football. He had a shoe maker construct him a head gear/helmet to protect himself. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000095139/article/history-of-the-nfl-football-helmet -
Leather Caps were starting to be used as Protection
Many Players began to wear a soft leather cap to protect their heads. They are very similar to the rugby caps worn today. Though they are not very effective, they are better than nothing. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000095139/article/history-of-the-nfl-football-helmet -
Hard Leather Caps are Being Used
As time went on they developed a harder leather cap that provided more protection, rather than the softer leather caps. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000095139/article/history-of-the-nfl-football-helmet -
Face Masks
The idea of face masks to guard your face began to show up. The masks were just one straight bar attached to the hard leather caps. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000095139/article/history-of-the-nfl-football-helmet -
Plastic Helmets
Plastic helmets were replaced with the hard leather caps that were not very protective. Though it was a great improvement it still caused many injuries. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000095139/article/history-of-the-nfl-football-helmet -
Helmets in the 60's
The plastic helmets were not improved upon, but the face masks were added to with another bar protecting the players face more with a wider area of protection. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000095139/article/history-of-the-nfl-football-helmet -
Helmets in the 70's
The plastic helmets and face masks were kept, but padding was added to the inside of the helmet adding a cushion of protection. The padding inside of the helmet was a major improvement to the helmet and prevented many injuries. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000095139/article/history-of-the-nfl-football-helmet -
Helmets in the 80's
Many improvements were made to the helmet since the 70's. More padding was added inside the helmet to protect their head. And A much wider face mask was added, covering a lot more space than the previous helmets. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000095139/article/history-of-the-nfl-football-helmet -
Helmets in the 90's
In the 90's polycarbonate helmets and face mask grills were very effective in protecting the head, but concussions still heavily effected players. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000095139/article/history-of-the-nfl-football-helmet -
Present Day Helmets
Today the improvements made on helmets has been focused on reducing head injuries. There are head injury indicator chin straps,and Revolution helmets to reduce concussions. The helmet has been greatly improved and keeps players much safer than before. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000095139/article/history-of-the-nfl-football-helmet
