When football was first played, people would use anything even slightly round, including a human skull, a bundle of cloth or a hog’s head as the ball. In the 19th century, when the sport became ...

Footballs, rugby and soccer balls. Handmade leather footballs followed in 2009. In 2010, Converse asked Cunningham to make a leather basketball in connection with a shoe launch, ...

The NFL’s leather footballs have been produced by Wilson since 1941. Inglasco has manufactured NHL pucks since 1986. Rawlings has made Major League baseballs since 1977.

Wilson boasts of being able to make up to 4,000 total footballs at day at the Ada factory, or nearly 700,000 a year. NFL game balls are a fraction of that total, but they are the premium product ...

Yet there is another reason the NFL has used the same Wilson-produced footballs since 1941, MLB has stuck with Rawlings baseballs since 1977 and pucks made by Inglasco have skipped across NHL ice ...

NFL Network’s new treatment of Joe Gibbs — which debuts Friday at 9, as part of the network’s “A Football Life” series — contains dozens of moments that will make longtime Redskins ...