<P> In 1888 the college football rules convention voted to allow tackling below the waist . Players and coaches soon regarded pads as essential for the game . However, as in the National Hockey League during the 1970s, helmets were the last thing to be accepted . They were not a mandatory piece of equipment in college gridiron until 1939 and were not made mandatory in the National Football League until 1943 As a side note, "the last NFL player to play in a game without a helmet was Dick Plasman an end for the Chicago Bears in 1940 ." There is a photograph of him without one taken during the 1940 NFL Championship Game in which Chicago defeated the Washington Redskins 73 - 0 . </P> <P> Before the invention of the football helmet, players would often grow their hair long, because they believed it would protect their heads . The man largely credited with inventing the first helmet was George Barclay . In 1896 he designed a headgear which soon became known as a "head harness". It had three thick leather straps forming a close fit around his head, made by a harness maker . Additionally, other sources credit the invention of the football helmet to U.S. Naval Academy Midshipman Joseph M. Reeves (later to become the "Father of Carrier Aviation"), who had a protective device for his head made out of mole skin to allow him to play in the 1893 Army - Navy Game after he was told by a Navy doctor that he must give up football or risk death from another kick in the head . Reeves went to a local shoemaker / blacksmith and had a crude leather helmet fabricated to protect his skull . Before the first helmet, Edgar Allan Poe III (grandnephew of the famous writer) developed a small leather nose protector which, however, was found to severely interfere with vision and breathing and to come off easily </P> <P> Later helmets were made of padded leather, and resembled aviators' helmets . The helmet slowly began to take more of the appearance we recognize today when around 1915 more padding and flaps were added with ear holes for better on - field communication . Painted helmets have been around almost as long as helmets themselves: used to show team spirit and to help the quarterback distinguish a down field receiver from the defenders . The helmets of the University of Michigan Wolverines bear logos that follow the original seams of the leather helmets . Professional team logos started in 1948 when Fred Gehrke, a halfback for the Los Angeles Rams, began painting a horn design on all of the Rams' helmets . Gehrke studied art at the University of Utah . </P> <P> The next innovation came probably in 1917 in the form of suspension: to "cradle" the skull away from the foam shell . Straps of fabric formed a pattern inside the helmet . They absorbed and distributed the impact better, and they allowed for ventilation . It was a breakthrough . They were first known as "ZH" or Zuppke helmets named after the Illinois coach who came up with the design . Rawlings and Spalding were some of the first manufacturers . </P>

When did the nfl stop using leather helmets