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The Michigan Helmet Design, Explained by Jeopardy!


OnWis97

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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2009247-jeopardy-contestants-have-very-little-knowledge-of-college-football

The above is a clip of three Jeopardy! contestants doing poorly on a college football category. The question of obvious interest to us is the one about the Michigan helmet. The Answer is that this school adopted this helmet design (photo shown) so that players could see each other better. The question, of course, is "what is Michigan".

I don't know the entire history of the winged helmet, but I thought the pattern was taken from the stitching pattern on some old leather helmets. But maybe it's both...maybe Michigan got the idea from Princeton (I believe a coach actually "brought" the idea over) and they decided to do it because they thought it helped teammates see each other.

Any thoughts?

Disclaimer: If this comment is about an NBA uniform from 2017-2018 or later, do not constitute a lack of acknowledgement of the corporate logo to mean anything other than "the corporate logo is terrible and makes the uniform significantly worse."

 

BADGERS TWINS VIKINGS TIMBERWOLVES WILD

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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2009247-jeopardy-contestants-have-very-little-knowledge-of-college-football

The above is a clip of three Jeopardy! contestants doing poorly on a college football category. The question of obvious interest to us is the one about the Michigan helmet. The Answer is that this school adopted this helmet design (photo shown) so that players could see each other better. The question, of course, is "what is Michigan".

I don't know the entire history of the winged helmet, but I thought the pattern was taken from the stitching pattern on some old leather helmets. But maybe it's both...maybe Michigan got the idea from Princeton (I believe a coach actually "brought" the idea over) and they decided to do it because they thought it helped teammates see each other.

Any thoughts?

Hint: It started at Princeton and was brought to Michigan. Dig deeper for the full truth.

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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2009247-jeopardy-contestants-have-very-little-knowledge-of-college-football

The above is a clip of three Jeopardy! contestants doing poorly on a college football category. The question of obvious interest to us is the one about the Michigan helmet. The Answer is that this school adopted this helmet design (photo shown) so that players could see each other better. The question, of course, is "what is Michigan".

I don't know the entire history of the winged helmet, but I thought the pattern was taken from the stitching pattern on some old leather helmets. But maybe it's both...maybe Michigan got the idea from Princeton (I believe a coach actually "brought" the idea over) and they decided to do it because they thought it helped teammates see each other.

Any thoughts?

The pattern did come from the leather helmets, but Fritz Crisler (who brought the design to Michigan from Princeton) was the one who "colorized" those portions to help his QB find receivers down the field. There's also some rumors that when the design was being created at Princeton, the "wings" were made to look like flattened tiger ears and the 3 stripes came from the 3 stripes on the Princeton uniform...

A lot of schools painted similar patterns on their helmets during that time period because everyone was wearing brown leather helmets. I don't understand why Michigan gets all the credit for it.

When Crisler left Princeton, they ceased using the design for 60 years, from 1938-1998. Michigan has worn it since Crisler's arrival in 1938, which is why everyone associates the design with Michigan and not Princeton or any other schools, such as:

Ohio State:

5317997393_e1cfbd7ef5_o.jpg

Michigan State:

jack-breslin-michigan-state-winged-helme

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"The eyes of this University are upon Mack Brown, and have seen him win more then 150 games" "What is Auburn?"

Aaaaggghhh! Why didn't I get categories like that and contestants like those?

It is what it is.

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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2009247-jeopardy-contestants-have-very-little-knowledge-of-college-football

The above is a clip of three Jeopardy! contestants doing poorly on a college football category. The question of obvious interest to us is the one about the Michigan helmet. The Answer is that this school adopted this helmet design (photo shown) so that players could see each other better. The question, of course, is "what is Michigan".

I don't know the entire history of the winged helmet, but I thought the pattern was taken from the stitching pattern on some old leather helmets. But maybe it's both...maybe Michigan got the idea from Princeton (I believe a coach actually "brought" the idea over) and they decided to do it because they thought it helped teammates see each other.

Any thoughts?

Hint: It started at Princeton and was brought to Michigan. Dig deeper for the full truth.

QFT. Princeton coach Fritz Crisler had them painted on so that it would give the QB an advantage to see his receivers downfield. It's also meant to look like a tiger's ears flared back, after Princeton's mascot.

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