History of Football Pads

History of Football Pads

While modern football players often head to the gridiron wearing padding pretty much from head to toe, this was not always the case. When the first collegiate football games were held in the 1870s, players wore street clothes and handkerchiefs on their heads as their only protection. The game has changed much, as players and coaches constantly look for pads to help make the game safer.


The History of Football Shoulder Pads All About Pads in Football

Football equipment has changed over the years. The Earliest Pads
The earliest football pads started popping up in the late 19th century as players used a variety of light materials tucked under their sweaters to add some protection. The first recorded piece of "padding" was a nose guard designed by Edgar Allan Poe--not the famed writer, but his nephew, who was an All-American at Princeton in 1889. However, the piece made it hard to breathe and see the field.

While players used crude shoulder pads, hip pads and the like through the 1910s and 1920s, helmets were more rare. While there are records of helmets in the early 1900s, they did not really come into vogue until the 1920s with the so-called "Leatherhead." These helmets were made of leather and offered some protection for a player's head and ears. However, they did not become standard in college and the pros until the 1940s.

Facemasks
By the 1950s, facemasks started to become standard for most players, as did plastic helmets that offered more cushion for the head when struck. However, the majority of facemasks were nothing more than a couple of small bars to protect the face. Some players (most notably Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle) used plastic, see-through masks during this era, but they tended to fog up easily.

More and more padding
The 1960s and 1970s saw a major evolution in pads. Players began to wear rib guards to help protect their bodies. Linemen began to wear neck supports to prevent whiplash. Facemasks were designed to protect more of a player's face. Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson was estimated to wear almost nine pounds of equipment every time he went on the field. That included over-sized elbow guards, a lineman's face mask and thick eye goggles. He said that if someone made a piece of safety equipment, it was made for a reason, and he would wear it.

Specialty equipment
The 1990s and the 2000s brought a trend of more specialized equipment based on position. Quarterbacks wear shoulder pads that roll more, to allow them to throw. Linemen wear plastic shoulder pads that absorb more shock. Kickers wear special shoes that allow them to boot the ball better. Most players at the professional level can purchase equipment made specifically for all positions on the field.