GUILFORDIANA: Guilford Football Helmets Past & Present

Generally, no helmets worn from 1892 until roughly 1900. A similar helmet to this one was worn by Quaker grid men in the early 1900s to 1930s. Usually black or dark brown and made of leather, they were hot, cumbersome and offered little in the way of protection.

1930s, also leather.

1940s, leather.

1950s. Era of the plastic shell begins. Consistent use of a face-mask was rare in the 50s and 60s. If one was used it was traditionally a single bar design.

1960 - 1964

1960 and 1961

1965

1966 - 1971
For some reason, I guess we thought it was o.k. to copy the University of Georgia's athletic logo. (I'm not digging it...)

1972 - 1973

(Ditto...)

1973

Back to numeral helmets.

1974 - 1976

Pretty plain...

1977 - 1979

The addition of a few stripes.

1980 - 1981

The black center sticker removed.

1982 - 1984

(Meh...)

1985 - 1986
A slight change with the stripes.

1987 and 1988

The copycat logo with no stripes.

1989

Back to plain.

1990 (and other periods?)

I'd heard about this helmet, the one with "Nathan the Quaker Man" in formation stance. A few alumni players from the late 70s and early 80s said they used this design on occasion. "Offensive Lineman Nathan" was probably discontinued, as it was too specific to one sport.

1991 - 1993

I remember these. They made some contests with Hampden-Sydney confusing as their helmets were nearly identical.

1994-1996, and 1998

I also remember this design. I think they alternated between plain and numeral designs, depending on the game or opponent. Either way they were pretty...plain.

1997

1999 - 2002

I never liked the weird "diamond G." We (thankfully) didn't use it for very long. This ~~abomination~~ "G" is still on the sides of some basketball shorts worn occasionally by the mascot, otherwise it's not seen around campus...at all.

2003

"Reverse design with G." A return to the white helmet design of the 1950s. Here, the "G" is getting closer to our present heritage "rectangle G" design. Various Guilford athletic teams have used a version of this "G" over the years.

2004

First reverse-color helmet with numerals.

2005 to 2012
The "rectangle G" is currently standardized across all varsity sports teams and probably here to stay. I dig it. (A similar version adorned baseball uniforms from the early 1900s.)