Today's Tidbit... The Rise and Fall of Helmet Numbers

It is a common belief that the Los Angeles Rams were the first team to adorn their helmets with logos in 1948, but previous stories have shown the Rams followed UChicago in the 1920s, Washington in the 1930s, and perhaps others. We've also looked at teams that placed logos on the front and back of their helmets and the adoption of logos among teams playing in the Rose Bowl.

Another helmet decoration trend that I covered in How Football Became Football but not on this site was the 1950s and 1960s trend to place numbers on the sides of helmets. You can find images of teams with numbers on their helmets before the mid-1950s, but most are small numbers on the back that do not match players' uniform numbers. Rather than representing uniform numbers, they appear to distinguish each helmet so players can identify their bonnets and for inventory control purposes in the equipment room.

Miami’s helmet numbers don't match their jersey numbers. (1948 Florida yearbook)

The situation changed, however, with the arrival of nationally televised football games in the early 1950s. Television's first impact on football uniforms came when visiting teams started wearing white jerseys. Some teams wore white in the past, especially when the teams had similar school colors, but fans in the stands could easily distinguish red from blue jerseys. However, fans watching at home on black-and-white televisions could not tell the difference between red and blue. The NFL required visiting teams to wear white in 1957, and the NCAA waited until 1983, long after everyone adopted the approach, even small colleges and high schools that never appeared on television.