As a collector and admirer of football helmets, it is easy to get
jaded when you have the exceptional privilege of having handled or
worn game-used college helmets because you and your teammates were the
ones playing in them, or of seeing photos and helmet prototypes
because you are involved in helmet research and/or design. As a former
high school and college football player who played minor league
football and unceremoniously went through pro camps without much
notice from coaches, general managers, and at times, competing
players, the "perk" and lasting memory in some cases was to at least
have access to, use of, or exposure to a number of beautiful helmet
designs. Still, there are some helmet collections that make one stop
and look, stop and think, stop and truly appreciate the power that a
history-filled and stunning grouping can have.
The recent introduction of the University Of Tennessee helmet
collection from the suspension era that HELMET HUT unveiled in late
April is one of those groupings that has both an outstanding
appearance and history. From my perspective, every university has an
interesting football history and "nice looking" helmets, many of which
are detailed in the COLLEGE SECTION on the HELMET HUT site. Even the
simple shell adorned with no more than a one-inch center stripe and
side numerals conveys power and reflects the era within which it was
worn. However, the Tennessee collection was truly spectacular. If one
were told, "I am going to show you a series of white football helmets,
most with a one-inch orange center stripe, some with a center stripe
that is an inch-and-a-half in width, some with a number, some with a
letter 'T' logo on the sides", I'm not sure that much excitement would
be expected. However, when actually seen on an individual basis, each
helmet has a clean, attractive, and stately look while the entire
collection when viewed as an entity, reflects the spirit of a very
proud program and its tradition.
One of the best yet least known players of the Tennessee Volunteer
stars is Curtis C. Kell. One might wonder how a player so consistently
excellent at performing the skills of his position that it earned him
entry to The College Football Hall Of Fame, can be a relative unknown.
As one of the few college football players that assiduously lifted
weights in an attempt to become a bigger, stronger, faster, and better
football player, I was well aware of "Chip" Kell who was perhaps the
first college football player to bench press 500 pounds. My own
involvement in both football and weight training resulted in meeting,
knowing, and working with Chip and when comparing him as a player and
person to the many greats of his era and those who played at Tennessee
through many decades, he stands above most.
For those like me, Chip was by any standard, among the finest
players of his day, a two-time first team consensus All American,
three times All Southeastern Conference performer, Lombardi Trophy
finalist, and two-time winner of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy, an award
given to the offensive player deemed to be the best at that thankless
task and one that many winners took great pride in earning.
During a period in American history when muck-raking journalists,
liberal politicians, flamboyant musicians and media darlings,
drug-dealing status seekers, and anti-establishment "heroes" hogged
the daily headlines and were considered to be social icons, Chip Kell
lived by a code that seemingly came out of the past, one based upon
doing everything "right" and through the application of hard work. His
idols were those in his family who set the example of hard and
consistent effort, intelligent application of skill, and a
determination to succeed while respecting others and doing so as
considerately as possible. In the late-1960's, Kell was an
anachronism, a misplaced gunfighter ready for any challenge yet
courtly and chivalrous to those most in need. The football related
accolades began early as he was the first eighth-grader to letter as a
varsity player in the City Of Atlanta Football League; Honorable
Mention All City Of Atlanta and All State in ninth grade; Honorable
Mention All Greater Atlanta in tenth grade; All Greater Atlanta, All
State, and All American as well as the Second Most Wanted High School
Football Player In The State Of Georgia by the time of his graduation;
a member of the 1967 North All Star Team. He chose the University Of
Tennessee as his college destination as a scholarship athlete in two
sports, both football and track and field. His track accomplishments
rivaled those of the football field and included owning the National
shot put record in eighth grade as well as the City Of Atlanta discus
record and high jump title. In ninth grade, he had the National Ninth
Grade record in the shot put, the National Fifteen Year Old record,
was Sport Magazine Teen Age Athlete Of The Month, and continued with
the National Junior shot put record and the State Of Georgia record
which stands approximately forty years later. In addition to his
collegiate football laurels, he was two-time SEC shot put champion.
While Chip's father was not his football coach, he was a successful
high school coach who had started his son on a weight training program
before junior high school and with a willingness to work that far
exceeded that of older athletes, Kell forged his body and a very
disciplined mind into a championship athletic career.
Chip bench pressed four-hundred pounds at the age of fifteen, a
feat made more incredible because so few athletes were serious about
strength training during that era. His strength served him well for
when arriving at Tennessee, he was chosen as one of the rare freshmen
that regularly scrimmaged with the varsity and with a somewhat unusual
and frightening notoriety that began in his frosh season, Kell to this
day holds the UT "record" for caving in or breaking eight helmets. One
can only imagine the power generated by a 250-pound man who could run
a 4.7 forty-yard sprint on grass in late-Sixties circumstances and
equipment. His college career led to the San Diego Chargers of the NFL
where he suffered a horrible knee injury. Able to rehabilitate enough
to finish two years in the CFL with Edmonton, Chip followed in his
father's footsteps and became a well-respected high school coach in
Georgia and later in Tennessee and for many years, manufactured his
own line of strength training equipment that was used at Auburn,
Florida, Utah, Maryland, and numerous other high profile university
and pro football training complexes.
There is no doubt that Chip Kell was one-of-a-kind in terms of
athletic strength, speed, and power wrapped in one package and among
the many greats at Tennessee, it is Kell that I see in my mind and
think of when I view the Tennessee collection, not just the helmet
used in the 1968-'70 seasons he played. I think of Phillip Fulmer,
first as a player who shared the offensive line next to Kell and who
later became the dynamic offensive coordinator of the Vols. I then
think of Fulmer as the head coach and the great players he has
developed which in turn takes me back to the beginning of the
suspension era and the run of great players like Doug Atkins, Johnny
Majors, and so many others that proudly wore the immediately
recognizable UT headgear. Beauty and tradition in one package, one
that motivates and reminds all of the discipline, sacrifice, and
effort it takes to be a champion, at Tennessee, Oklahoma, Purdue, and
all of the other universities so appropriately represented at HELMET
HUT through their helmets.
Color.jpg)
