For 20 years, we've been subjected to thread after thread begging for gray facemasks. Never thought we'd see the day, but that day is here. Congratulations to those of you who got your wish.
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Gray facemasks
- Thread starter ChiTownLion
- Start date
It just took seven years of Massimo Manca taking a knee during the opening theme of College GameDay.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
One thing that struck me about our uniforms and gear is how involved the equipment managers have to be. I mean, Spyder and his wife had to sew names on the back when O'Brien wanted them, and I saw the number on the helmets have to be put on by hand. Is it like that at other big time football programs? Seems like a lot of work.
"Just take care of the little things, and the big things will take care of themselves."
I'm also a proud blue face mask guy.
I'm wondering if they'll test drive the relatively rare white face masks at some point.
I'm also expecting us to wear chrome face masks eventually.... blue, gray.... won't matter. I will do my best to not have my head explode, but that will be some kind of special day for my fellow fartes d'olde, huh?!
(I'll get through it. I'll go to my Happy Valley place. Namaste.)
Teams that normally have names on the uniforms most likely have a industrial sewing machine for the "nameplate" which is an iron-on type of lettering. So they iron-on the name to a jersey "name plate then sewn onto the back of the jersey.
The numbers could be painted on at the helmet reconditioners but most likely they are stickers that can be replaced each week if needed. So if one of the two digit numbers gets scratched then the managers just need to replace one of the two.
The numbers could be painted on at the helmet reconditioners but most likely they are stickers that can be replaced each week if needed. So if one of the two digit numbers gets scratched then the managers just need to replace one of the two.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
Holy sh*t dude that is 20 years old. Still, I knew Notre Dame did the helmet painting thing. I'm talking about having to have a guy and his wife sew on names and having to put stickers on every helmet. I guess everyone does it but can't believe the companies providing the gear doesn't do it.
COOL! I'm gonna start bitching every week to bring back the leather helmets, then.
Yuck... white facemasks are a sign of weakness
That's like wearing a white belt with a suit...
I suspect Spider (and his wife) are probably a bit old school when it came to sewing. I'd imagine most schools outsource that somewhere.
I was surprised in seeing a recent video that the helmet numbers are placed by hand. It wasn't the high effort required that shocked me, but more the consistency aspect of it. With seemingly no guidelines or stencils I'd imagine it's virtually impossible to apply the numbers with consistent alignment and spacing across all of the helmets. This is even more of an issue considering there are probably multiple equipment managers involved, it's unlikely the same person does every helmet. This made me wonder if that video was truly just a promotional piece and didn't show the real process. Surely they have some kind of guide or stencil to make the process consistent.
They use the different holes (ventilation and ear holes) as reference markers. But to be honest that they get them close enough that it would be difficult for people to notice. Even on TV, they can get them on close enough that you can't tell.
Yes, all of these helmets (except maybe the crazy MD or Oregon ones) are plain, and then the decals are added by the equipment guys. This is why you see some players at all star games trade decals. I think Penn State even has to add the blue stripe themselves. Of course, ND is famous for painting their helmets gold before each game.
The new helmets are the sh*t. I'd be perfectly fine with PSU going with them full time. And I'm old...ish.
I love the blue facemasks. Grey is dull, lifeless and boring and looks out of place on a pure blue and white color scheme. The only reason they were grey more than 30 years ago was cheapness; many teams wore grey facemasks regardless of uniform or helmet colors because it was cheaper to mass produce them in one color. I'll be happy when they return to the ash heap of history where they belong.
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Michigan helmets are yellow and the blue is added on top.
At the risk of pissing off the NFL haters on the board, here is a link to the way one team handles such things. WARNING! The link contains content from an NFL team. If you are offended by such things, please do not click on it
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Don't know if you know this or not, but they actually used to have those in the 50's Lucite. I think Otto Graham was one of the first to wear them.
I'm not an NFL fan, but the best looking, most-classic headgear (Dallas, NYG etc) all feature neutral grey facemasks...
Colored facemasks = whitewall tires
Colored facemasks = Stupid sunglasses with the colored temple-cables that guys with moustaches wear with their Zubaz™
Now, without googling... please tell me which NFL introduced a colored mask?
The neutral grey was the untreated color of the rubberized coating the steel masks were dipped-in... a certain NFL team had theirs dyed ... suddenly Riddell, Wilson, Bike etc. could make more $$$ by offering facemasks in custom colors
What about an argyle end zone?
Which color chrome facemask do you prefer? Silver-Gray or silver-blue?
My navy blue Mazda CX-5 looks sharp, and has a black grill. No throw-back chrome or silver-gray in its future!
I did.
I also like single bar face masks. mMII wore one during his remarkably brief Jr.high football career. Hence, his face.
Good question. I think Denver may have had white ones as far back as the 70s, but for colors other than white I don't even have a guess. I'll throw one out anyway: Miami?
On thr college level, I'm pretty sure Longhorns and Sooners have had white facemasks since at least the 70s. I know Earl Campbell and Billy Sims had white cages.
If I see an NFL player with Zubaz pants and a rat tail haircut, or anything even remotely reminiscent of The Boz, I may never watch football on Sunday again.
I have no beef with the NFL, but as a Bears fan I'm still offended by that link. Only the Packers would have a "color rush" uniform that is almost completely white.
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