A History of Helmet and Face Mask Requirements

About two years ago, I wrote a story about the battle between plastic and leather helmets, mainly how that played out in the 1955 Spalding catalog, which offered four plastic helmet models and three in leather. Why would a manufacturer offer both versions when plastic helmets better-protected players' heads? The answer lies in the NFL and NCAA rules and football practitioners' beliefs about protecting the helmet wearer versus others on the playing field.

Our British cousins defined 59 rules when ...