What is the story behind the Cowboys?  Why is there two different blues and when were the different blues used?  Is There a "time line"?

Jack

Dear Jack:

This is a good question that comes up from time to time but never seems to get answered completely so lets give it a shot. The original 1960 -- 1963 Cowboy's colors were strictly royal blue and white. In 1964 they introduced a silver blue or "Cowboy" blue color to replace their white helmets and pants. The royal blue "star" helmet logo and striping were retained but the "star" was now trimmed in white and a white center stripe was added to the helmet. The new look was quite popular especially when the team wore their white jerseys which they elected to do whenever they were given the choice. The style problem occurred when the team had to wear the royal or medium blue jersey. There was not enough contrast between it and the silver blue helmet and silver blue pants. When the Cowboys wore that combination they looked like a cross between the Confederate Army and the current Seattle Seahawks when they wear their somewhat matching "fungus" green jerseys and pants together. In 1967 the Cowboys slightly darkened the shade of blue in their "star" helmet logo and side stripes and added similarly colored blue trim around the white trim of the "star" logo. The original silver blue helmet was also changed to eliminate some of the blue hue. The Cowboys completed their color transformation in the early 1980s by replacing their medium blue colored jerseys with navy. The silver blue pants were changed to silver and only a hint of the original blue tint was left in the helmet. The darker blue helmet markings (compared to the original royal blue) were also changed to navy.

Dear Dr. Del Rye:

I know that most football helmets today, (college and pro) us adhesive logos on their helmet. Are there any current teams that still paint on there logos? I've hear that Michigan still paints there logos on, but I can't confirm that. Could you shed some light on this? I really love this site, considering I am a collector of pro football helmets myself. Please keep the helmets and info coming. It's GREAT!!!! By the way, how did helmethut manager to obtain Marcus Allen's game worn Super Bowl helmet? Incredible!!! Keep up the good work.

James
Oakland, CA (Go Raiders!!!!)

Dear James:

Michigan indeed still paints on their helmet design using two colors -- maize yellow and dark navy combined with an impregnated Green Bay gold colored shell. A good friend of Helmet Hut, Mr. Russ Hawkins, who is a longtime employee of Capital Varsity Reconditioning actually hand tapes the wing pattern prior to painting each Michigan helmet. As a result of this process if you look closely at the Michigan helmets during a game you may notice that each wing is slightly different or as Russ would say "has its own character." The only other Division l college team we are aware of that paints on their logo is Colorado State which has metallic gold rams horns painted on their helmets.

Dear Doc:

What is the advantage of the current Schutt facemask with the reversed side clip mounting? Since 1986 or so all Schutts masks have this feature. It seems to me that the reverse positioning would have the same negative effect as the old Dungard direct bolt masks.

Thanks...DW

Schutt is quite proud of their reverse side clip mounting for which they received a patent in the mid 1980s. A facemask usually travels backward or toward the player's face upon impact. With the new design the loop of the clip is in a perfect position to slightly stretch or give, absorbing maximum impact, while also in a perfect position to ultimately "grab and hold" the facemask preventing contact with the player's face. With the old design the mask would be pushed straight into the inflexible and non shock absorbing screw side of the clip rather than the loop of the clip.