I spoke to the U-M Club of Lansing last week, and one of the questions was about the impact of legalized gambling on college sports and the potential dangers. This is a complicated topic, but as ever I mentioned there is a historical precedent at Michigan. It involves our guests this Saturday--the Oregon football team. This is from 1960, and it involved the Ducks, gamblers from New York, the FBI, and eventually a U.S. Senate subcommittee. Here's what happened:
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Denny Fitzgerald and Winged Leather
I recently received this note from a reader (and Buckeye) Larry: I am a huge Buckeye fan. But I love the history of college football. I love the history of teams uniforms and helmets too. I know that Notre Dame was one of the last teams to use leather helmets. The Irish wore “plastic” for a little bit in the early or mid 40’s but went back to leather until the late 50’s. Ohio State last wore leather helmets 1946 with a guy or so a little longer. I note that Michigan had several players wear leather in the 50’s. But I saw one player, Denny Fitzgerald #18, wear a leather helmet and no facemask in 1960. That may be one of the latest I have seen a player wear leather and then to have no facemask. Maybe there was somebody else but I do not know who. I know Bobby Layne wore no facemask for the Steelers in the early 60’s. I enjoy your site for the historical things. I wonder if you could find out why Fitzgerald wore leather that late and no facemask. Larry attached a few photos of Fitzgerald donning the winged leather helmet with no facemask. I love this one: This is a man’s man and this is a tough man’s game. Fitzgerald’s athletic resume’…
