Fritz Crisler (1/12/1899 - 8/19/1982) Former Minn. Head Coach (Quasi-Official Thread)

[Muck]

In 1931 Minnesota Head Coach Crisler and his Golden Gophers defeated Sam Williamson's Ohio State Buckeyes 19-7 in the final game of the season.

Joe Gailus was a sophomore guard for Ohio State and can be seen in the uniform worn by the Buckeyes during that season in his official photograph:

The following season Crisler accepted the head coaching position at Princeton University where in 1935 he claimed to have 'invented' a 'winged helmet' consisting of a curved front panel and three raised stripes radiating rearwards.

In 1938 he brought his 'invention' to the foul and blighted landscape laying to the west of Lake Huron.

The rest as they say...is history.

 

[BUCKYLE]

So....tOSU was the first to use the winged helmet?

 

[ochre]

Indiana's helmets in 1933:

 

[Muck]

So....tOSU was the first to use the winged helmet?

That's the oldest photo I have seen so far.

The truth is ... probably not. It was just a stock Spalding helmet that any team could order from the catalog.

 

[cincibuck]

More: Though the dates are starting to get fuzzy here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winged_football_helmet

And here: http://www.spartanjerseys.com/michigan-state-football-jersey-helmet/winged-helmet/

History proves that no coach or team invented the design of the winged helmet, it was simply a Spalding stock item that several colleges used starting in 1930.

 

[Muck]

The wiki page needs to have a serious rewrite. It's essentially a pro TSUN propaganda piece and treats the research into the history of the helmet design by Sparty fans as unreliable despite it being the best researched and attributed resource on the subject.

Looking through some old sports auction sites I've come to realize that the front 'wing' design doesn't appear to have been specific to Spaulding helmets either. You can find it on helmets made by Wilson, Davega, Sindelar, GoldSmith, Draper & Maynard etc. I even ran across one from Riddell that looks to have been modified to have more of a 'wing' look in the front.