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Pigskin Dispatch's avatar

Great research and discovery. The factual truth is sometimes like an onion, and this question of football's first head protection is getting peeled again!

phil allen's avatar

I blew up, sepia washed and framed the action photo of the 1893 Princeton-Yale game ('The Original Tandem-Tackle Play') found on page 397 of Parke Davis' Football. .. (1911). In it, a standing player, third from the left, appears to be wearing a leathery head covering. For me, it's hard to tell which side he's on. Who could he be? ..

Football Archaeology's avatar

I looked at it and agree with you. He appears to have a strap crossing from ear to ear. I'll look into it.