Helmet sticker
Helmet stickers, also known as reward decals and pride stickers, are stickers that are affixed to a high school or college football player's helmet. They can denote either individual or team accomplishments.
History
ESPN says the practice of awarding helmet stickers is often wrongly credited to Ernie Biggs, also a trainer at Ohio State under legendary coach Woody Hayes.[1] They instead claim that the practice of awarding stickers began with Jim Young, former assistant coach at Miami in 1965, two years before they were used by the Buckeyes.[1]
An even earlier attribution is given to Gene Stauber, freshman coach at Nebraska (1955–1957) by head coach Pete Elliott.[2] Stauber routinely used stickers throughout his tenure as assistant coach at Illinois (1960–1970), as a 1962 photo of All-American linebacker Dick Butkus indicates.[3] The stickers stem from fighter pilots marking their planes with stickers after kills and/or successful missions.[4]
Michael Pellowski, in his book “Rutgers Football: A Gridiron Tradition in Scarlet," credits Rutgers defensive backs coach Dewey King with being “one of the first” to award decals for helmets in 1961. The stickers were given for interceptions only so they were more difficult to earn. Every time there was an interception, the crowd yelled “give him the star.” The stars can be seen in this photo of the 1961 team walking from the locker room to the field prior to the season finale against Columbia.[5]
Current usage
Division I FBS colleges
- Arkansas: Hog Head logo
- Akron: Blue Star
- Clemson: Paw Print
- Duke: Grim Reaper (only for defensive players)
- Florida State: Tomahawk (tomahawks given for academic achievements have "ACADEMIC" written up the handle of the tomahawk)
- Georgia: White Bone (football excellence) and Black Bone (academic excellence)
- Kent State: Golden Flashes logo
- Louisiana Lafayette: Fleur-de-lis/Gold Fleur-de-lis
- Louisiana Monroe: Maroon Star/Warhawk Talon
- Michigan: Football with wolverine in the middle
- Michigan State: White Block "S"/Javelin
- Nevada: Axe
- Northwestern University: White Wildcat
- Ohio State University: Buckeye Leaf
- Pittsburgh: "Pitt" logo
- Purdue: Train
- SMU: Pony logo(only on white helmets)
- Stanford: Axe Blade
- Toledo: Yellow Rocket
- Western Michigan
Division I FCS colleges
- Alabama A&M
- Florida A&M: Snake Heads
- Fordham University: Ram Head
- Illinois State: Reggie Redbird
- North Carolina A&T
- Youngstown State: White Star
- New Hampshire
- Butler: Dog Bone
- South Dakota State
Discontinued usage
- Air Force: Lighting Bolt
- Appalachian State: Yosef
- Arizona: Wildcat Paw
- Arkansas State: "I Will"
- Baylor: Green Star
- Bowling Green: "BG" logo
- BYU: Gold Cougar (Personal Goals) and Blue Cougar (Team Goals, Wins)/"HC"(used only on throwback helmets)
- California: Football (football with big C and "WIN" on it, Growling Bear head ('70s))
- Central Michigan: Yellow Block C
- Cincinnati
- Colorado: Buffalo
- Eastern Michigan
- East Carolina: Skull Pirate Logo
- Florida Atlantic
- Fresno State: White Bone, Yellow Bone, and Black Bone
- Georgia State: Panther, a block "M" (standing for magnanimatas, or "greatness of spirit" in Latin), and a gold star for academics
- University of Hawaii: Warrior helmet and cross spears [6]
- Houston: White Paw
- Indiana
- Kentucky: White Wildcat Paw/Blue Wildcat Paw(only on white helmets)
- Louisville: Cardinal
- Marshall: Green Horn
- Maryland: Red Turtle and Yellow Turtle
- Memphis: Tiger Paw
- Miami(Ohio): Star/Tomahawk
- Mississippi State: White Bone
- Missouri: Tiger Paw
- North Carolina State: Wolf Fang
- New Mexico State: Aggie "A"
- North Carolina: Tar Heel
- Northern Illinois: White Bone
- Oklahoma State: Cowboy
- Rice: Owl
- Rutgers: Silver Star/Sword
- San Jose State
- Southern Miss: Eagle
- South Carolina: Gamecock foot with spur
- South Florida: Green Bull Logo
- Temple: Diamond
- Tennessee
- Texas Tech: Red Star [7]
- Tulane: Fleur-de-lis
- Tulsa: Skull and Crossbones
- UConn: Huskie/"C" logo
- UCLA: Blue Bear Paw
- Utah: Utes logo
- Utah State-Block letter 'A'/Bull
- Vanderbilt: Ship Anchor(only on gold helmets)
- Western Kentucky: "WKU" Red Towel logo
- West Virginia: Musket
- Wyoming: Small Bucking Horse
References
- 1 2 "Helmet Stickers". ESPN.com. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
- ↑ http://www.huskermax.com/interviews/Pete_Elliott.html
- ↑ http://www.fanbase.com/photo/1145757
- ↑ Rabjohns, Jeff (2006-10-26). "Helmet stickers reward college football players' superior performance". USA Today. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
- ↑ Sargeant, Keith (2014-11-14). "Rutgers football 1961: 'The greatest team, the greatest season, and the greatest coach that any college ever had'". NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
- ↑ "prideofhawaiisports.com".
- ↑ "Southwest Conference Helmet History".
