Tumbleweeds and the Football Helmet Logo Whodunnit

While researching the adoption of helmet logos by NFL teams in the late 1950s and early 1960s, I came across stories indicating that one artist created the logos used by the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants, the Dallas Cowboys' "riding cowboy" alternate logo, and a Cleveland Browns logo that never saw use.

The artist was Tom K. Ryan, who passed away in 2019. He is best known for his syndicated cartoon strip, Tumbleweeds, published from 1965 to 2007.

(The Comics Journal)

Before Tumbleweeds' success, Ryan was a starving artist who tried various jobs before landing in commercial art and living in Muncie, Indiana. Working independently in the early 1960s, he created cartoons for the Muncie Evening News, and the story of his helmet logo designs originated in one of their columns.

(Fennel, Jerry, 'Sports Keyhole,' Muncie Evening Press, August 14, 1961.)

The article also indicates that Muncie-based Ball State would use a Ryan-designed logo for the 1961 season, though their yearbooks show they did not use a logo in 1961 and had TV numbers on the sides of their helmets in 1962 and 1963.

The NFL logo-designing story was repeated in a story profiling Ryan when Tumbleweeds entered syndication in 1965. Later stories in Muncie and area newspapers profiling him in 1968 and 1971 also mention his helmet designs. Unfortunately, I found no information confirming his role with the designs, though my untrained eye is open to accepting the Dallas Cowboys story.

Let's look at each team in turn.