Today's Tidbit... Bert Bell’s Fashion Choices

Back when football coaches generally prevented players from drinking water during camp and practices, their teams also practiced in heavy water-absorbing gear. Most padding was leather or felt, jerseys were wool or cotton, and the football pants were moleskin or canvas, both cotton fabrics that retained water.

However, a few players and coaches, including Bert Bell, had better ideas and got a lot done practicing in shirts and shorts, but doing so was sufficiently unusual that it made the newspapers.

‘Sights! Camera Man Finds on Penn Grid,’ Journal (Meridien, CT), November 12, 1919, via newspapers.com

Of course, Penn’s captain, Bert Bell, went on to own and coach the Philadelphia Eagles, co-own the Pittsburgh Steelers, and was the NFL commissioner from 1946 to 1959, a critical period in the league’s development.

Teammates at Penn, Eagles head coach Lud Wray and owner Bert Bell discuss strategy in 1935, a time when coaches and owners wore football gear rather than t-shirts and shorts. (Credit: Philadelphia Eagles)

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