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Football players realized early on that there was great risk of receiving a head injury while playing football so a shoemaker created the first ever football helmet which was essentially a cap made of thick leather. http://www.pasttimesports.biz/history.html
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Seeing that just a leather cap was not doing the trick the ZH helmet was designed which helped evenly distribute the impact of the hit. https://www.thrillist.com/gear/a-brief-history-of-nfl-helmets
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Vern McMillan invented the first face mask which was just a single bar that went across the helmet. (exact date unknown 1935) https://www.thrillist.com/gear/a-brief-history-of-nfl-helmets
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John T. Riddle and his son created the first ever plastic football helmet. The early models had a tendency to shatter but the two men created a new model with a tear drop shape that would disperse the impact to the side instead of head on. ( exact date unknown) https://www.thrillist.com/gear/a-brief-history-of-nfl-helmets
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Fred Gehrke, a fullback , for the Rams, created the first ever design on a football helmet which was the two ram horns you still see today. (Exact date unknown) http://sportsteamhistory.com/los-angeles-rams-logo-history
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Coach for the Cleveland Browns, Paul Brown, was the first to insert a small radio transmitter into a helmet. It was deemed against the rules and it wasn't until years latter radios were required. http://mmqb.si.com/2014/06/11/paul-brown-cleveland-browns-dynasty-helmet-radio
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The first poly carbonate helmet was designed and proved to much better than the rest. The helmet was much lighter than previous plastic helmets and also much stronger. The new material also led to more complex face masks now that the material could support it. (exact date unknown) https://www.thrillist.com/gear/a-brief-history-of-nfl-helmets
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A company called Vicis is developing a new type of helmet that has a outer shell that is designed to crumple/compress onto a bottom layer of hundreds of small tubes that act as a shock absorbents. The technology has been invented and the design looks promising to become a common sight in football. ( exact date of release not yet known) http://mentalfloss.com/article/73791/football-helmet-future-designed-crumple
