When it comes to protecting football players, old-fashioned leather helmets may work just as efficiently at preventing concussions as modern ones, according to a study from the Cleveland Clinic ...

In the 1920s, football players wore soft leather helmets. Ten years later, helmets were made of hard leather. By the 1970s, players were sporting hard plastic helmets. Nearly 50 years later ...

Recent testing shows that, contrary to prior findings, new plastic helmets reduce the risk of concussions by 45 to 96 percent. Image via Journal of Neurosurgery, Rowson et. al. In the past century ...

Researchers have compared the relative safety afforded by two 1930-vintage leather football helmets and 10 modern football helmets during impacts to players' heads. These researchers found that ...

A new book by Greg Tranter, "The Providence Steam Roller: New England's First NFL Team," exhumes that forgotten football squad — a one-time champion.

As the forces of impacts increased, players began arming themselves. The 1890's saw the invention of the nose mask (1891), sew-on leather pads (mid-1890's), and the football helmet (1895).

To the editor: Leather or soft helmets like boxers wear in practice would be better for football players. These absorb impact rather than magnify it as hard helmets can do.

A new book by Greg Tranter, "The Providence Steam Roller: New England's First NFL Team," exhumes that forgotten football squad — a one-time champion.

If life gives you a Leather Helmet, let it inspire you. Gary Wayne Smith is a 1958 graduate of Ray High School and is also in the Ray High School Hall of Fame. Smith currently lives in Houston.

Fall brings football season in the U.S. and, with it, the parade of distinctively decorated helmets that the players wear. Over time, the shape and size of these helmets have gradually changed ...