CFL Helmets Question

I noticed for the first time just yesterday that each player depending on the positions wears a different style of helmet and I am wondering why is that?
I understand that different face cages need to be worn but what makes each helmet different from the rest?
Or do they are different style of helmets from different companies and it is just a fluke on who gets what style?

I am not sure if the helmets are made by different companies or not, but in the last five years in gridiron football we have seen the popularity grow of the helmets with indentations along with increased number of vents in order to improve comfort and protection.

Like you I when the game gets slow once in awhile I just sit there staring at the helmet differences with some guys still with the old school one with only vents and occasionally some guys with historic head trauma with the seemingly oversized bubble helmets too.

Also in the NFL the quarterback’s helmet is slightly different as is that of the defencive captain due to very small radio equipment in them.

I think if you look closely, there is nobody now who has the old round helmet.

seems like every single player has that new looking helmet!

they’re much better for safety and they keep improving them!

CFL teams get them for free apparently.

In my day it was air or gel packs .

its not fluke, its personal preference. helmets are a evolving technology, as years go by newer and better models come out. there are different companies tho but ive noticed that the CFL primarily uses Ridell. Ridell is the producer of the revolution or Revo helmets. examples are henry burris wearing the standard revo helmet and steven jyles wearing the new revo speed.

Lots of guys still use the older design, just not anyone on Sask which switched over completely this season.

I don’t believe teams get helmets for free – they are easily worth $300-400 each and teams need around 80-100 helmets over the course of a season, I would guess. That’s $30,000-40,000 times eight teams, or between $240k and $320k league-wide. Why would Rlddell or any other helmet manufacturer give them away?

i agree they would not be free, obvious reduced pricing for the huge amounts of equipment needed, and there would be obvious sponsorship deals, the best advertising a company can have is to equip hundreds of pro players for everyone to watch.

I really doubt there is any need for helmet manufacturers to “advertise” by having pro teams wearing their gear. I am fairly sure there are only two companies even making football helmets any more because of liability issues. And again, just because pro teams need a lot of gear, why on earth would that result in them getting a discount? Most U.S. college teams need even more helmets than pro teams – would they also get a discount? If so, then the manufacturer would be undercutting revenue from two of its three potential markets.

well considering how many teams and organizations order Riddell helmets,

not just Pro but College level and High School.... and so on.

so you likely have over a 100 pro and college teams that use these helmets.

i'm sure that they sell these helmets to the teams for a very small price!

And they make their money how?

By stealing the leprechaun’s gold.

have you ever bought something in bulk before? and yes they do need advertising, your lack of thought into your posts is quite funny. i run two minor football teams and even we get bulk discounts buying only 60 helmets at a time. if you have no idea what your talking about maybe just keep your thoughts to yourself… or bring them up without sounding like an idiot, thanks :wink:

It’s not just here sometimes Jakob where any such effort to share with the less informed some basics on economics, or any other given subject, at times are futile even when backed with facts. Great work again all the same. :thup:

That’s a very reasonable response that has completely enlightened me – thanks for sharing your deep insights!

id have nothing legit to say either i guess if i was proven completely wrong... thanks for making yourself out to be the idiot... it saved me a lot of trouble

Aww c’mon Jakob!

PW at least you figured it out to your credit and 'fessed up to it and so I will apologise for my rough remarks to you.

I still have plenty of Philly in me to get out of me as I move to Florida mind you, but it will take a few months. :oops:

Only a few years ago there was only one other option to the ‘standard’ football helmet. Now there are several and you see various helmets in use. Players tend to choose a helmet based on their needs - from a playing standpoint as well as a safety standpoint. Several of the new ones are specifically designed to reduce concussions. And yes, there are still a few players with the old ‘round ear-hole’ style helmets (often Kickers and QBs).

As for the advertising discussions… I think everyone missed the boat on that one. At least in the way it was discussed here. There isn’t really much of a ‘point’ to advertise to the general public. The brand of the helmet is clearly visible and that’s enough. And in fact, that’s more than any of the other protective gear gets!

Professional sporting goods are marketed not to the masses, but rather to a select audience. And that audience knows where to get the info. There are trade shows and publications (traditional print and new media) that not only serve as platforms for advertising, but also enable products to be written about tested, etc. It’s a pretty basic B2B (business-to-business) marketing play. Think about any very specialized tools of any trade and you’ll find the same thing. (You don’t see the 40K thermal imaging camera from Fluke Electronics being advertised in the daily paper... that wouldn't be a wise ad spend.)

Now when it comes to buying in bulk, that’s somewhat relevant. But even so different players will wear different gear so it’s not like the team will go out and buy all of its helmets from company x and all the shoulder pads from company y. Sure they get deals for buying in quantity, but it’s not the same as it would be for a team that can dictate what its players wear (e.g. a CJFL, CIS or minor team).

the only problem with your last comment was that you can name the different companies on one hand...so the majority of the team will be wearing gear from the same company... for example Ridell makes the old style revo helmets, the new revo speed, the old style round hole helmet, the majority of the shoulder pads, the majority of the other pads... where the differences really come down too would be the gloves, visors, cleats, etc. so ther is a need for large quantity buying, also they dress 50 some players every game, have a practice roster, and so on... trust me no matter what there are large quantities of the equipent being purchased by all the teams.

Shutt, Adams, Bike, Douglas all make high-end Shoulder Pads ... as well as other pads and equipment. With Riddell that makes 5 so you're right about the 'one-hand'. But that doesn't automatically mean that a team gets all it's gear from one supplier.

If there's one thing about a pro player it's that they know their gear and they know what will and won't work for them. Take that a step further and it's pretty clear that many of the guys simply will not allow the team to dictate what equipment the must use - with a few exceptions (most notably footwear in the CFL... though players will wear non-sponsor footwear as long as no logos show). Especially when the wrong gear can negatively affect their performance.

When you're dealing with the pros, many of them have their own gear (shoulder pads, leg pads, etc) which may have even been custom modified to give them the best fit/feel. Hockey players do that all the time and I know that some CFLers do as well (trimming shoulder pads for more flexibility, having extra padding added to protect an area they've injured in the past, etc). Heck, I know of guys in the CIS/CJFL who have their own set of shoulder pads, a helmet and other basic gear.

yes but also in hockey, high end players are paid to wear certain gear by the companies. and no they dont dictate what you can and cannnot wear. but if you can find me one player in the CFL not wearing a Ridell or Schutt helmet...and i doubt even you will find many wearing the latter, ill concede. im saying that pro teams do not pay the same individual price that you would for buying one set of pads, they just dont. we are pretty much agreeing to disagree so i hope there are no hard feelings between you and i.