Fascinating deep dive. The part about Delaware sticking with leather til 1965 is wild, especially since theircoach was on the NCAA Rules Committee and genuinely believed old leather was safer than plastic. I played high school ball in the 90s and we had one assistant coach who swore by the old leather helmets his dad saved from the 60s. Seems like that safety debate wasnt as clear-cut as we think today.
In the early 1960s, the testing data on helmet quality would have been of Stone Age quality and plastic helmets created some problems by essentially copying the shape of leather helmets (e.g., guillotine effect). The advances in plastic helmets means there is no longer a comparison, but back then, it was more about one man's opinion versus another.
Fascinating deep dive. The part about Delaware sticking with leather til 1965 is wild, especially since theircoach was on the NCAA Rules Committee and genuinely believed old leather was safer than plastic. I played high school ball in the 90s and we had one assistant coach who swore by the old leather helmets his dad saved from the 60s. Seems like that safety debate wasnt as clear-cut as we think today.
In the early 1960s, the testing data on helmet quality would have been of Stone Age quality and plastic helmets created some problems by essentially copying the shape of leather helmets (e.g., guillotine effect). The advances in plastic helmets means there is no longer a comparison, but back then, it was more about one man's opinion versus another.
For me, the signature helmet issue has become 'protection' for the opposing player as well ..