When Did Football Helmets Become Mandatory?

Helmets weren’t mandatory for football players until 1939.

The sport of American football dates to the 1860s, but helmets did not
become mandatory until 1939 for college players and 1943 for National
Football League (NFL) players. In the early days of American football, the
sport was even more violent and dangerous than the modern version. It was
estimated there were 18 football fatalities in 1904, the majority of which
were high school students. The fatality and injury rate led to an interest
in safety precautions. Football helmets originally were made of soft
leather, but they gradually began to be made of harder leather with more
padding to offer head protection throughout the 1920s and 1930s. By 1949,
stronger plastic helmets were the norm.

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