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The Circa Helmet
The original football helmets were known as ¨Circa¨ helmets. It was a soft helmet with very thin padding and leather. This type of helmet provided very low protection for players. -
Second Edition Leather Helmet
The first majorly updated leather helmets were used in the 1920s. With this new helmet came more padding and reduced impact thanks to a strap harness. -
First hard leather edition
Introduced in the 1930s, football helmets became slightly more protective with a harder material leather. The new helmet did protect players much better than the original helmets, but still was not nearly enough head protection. -
The first plastic helmet
In 1939, John T. Riddell made the first plastic football helmet. Although better than the leather helmet, it was sometimes considered ineffective and the plastic material cracked upon impact. The Riddell company today still leads the football helmet and gear industry, and now makes very effective and state-of-the art helmets. -
Second hard leather edition
The 1940s updates to football helmets were the most important leading to modern day helmets. Once again with a hard leather shell, the first face mask n football was added to the helmet for face protection and a more stable helmet. The helmets were also the first with graphics, depicting the different football teams that players played for. -
Rise of plastic helmets
During the 1950s-1960s, hard leather helmets began to disappear as new, more effective plastic helmets replaced them. The new plastic helmets did lack interior padding, but still worked much better than leather helmets. -
Second edition plastic helmets
From the 1970s-1980s, the plastic football helmets received various updates. Major changes include a larger, more efficient visor, better interrior padding, and the first full interrior padding going all around the helmet inside. These helmets were also the first to have detailed exterior graphics. -
Third edition plastic helmet
The once again updated plastic helmets had a semi drastic change. Harder exterior plastic was put in place to allow more protection, and the face mask was changed to a more modern look, being the template for current football face masks. -
The Procap accessory invention
The Procap accessory was invented in the 1990s, and was a cover that would go over the regular helmet. The cover would match the top of the helmet and fit in perfectly, adding more padding between the players' heads and the force that could harm the player. -
Riddell Revolution helmet
The Riddell Revolution helmet is the current main helmet used in football. It has the best interior padding yet, holding several soft connected pads inside. On the outside, a harder, smoother plastic material protects the player from major head injury.
