hammertime Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 After watching some of the old Browns clips (70's, 80's) i notice how big the shoulder padsa used to be. What do you think is the biggest improvement in equipment apart from the departure of leather helmets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daddybull1 Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 The helmets themself, to me, has been the greatest innovation in football equipment.... As I mentioned in another thread, I'm an old fart... I played organized football from the 5th grade through college.... I got my first, single bar, face mask when I became a freshman in HS.... I used a mouthpiece for the first time in my senior year of HS... In conjunction to all of this, we were taught to tackle by putting your face in the runners belly button.... Thats the only part of the body that doesn't move... Where the belly button goes, thats where the body goes..... Without a face mask, your face surlely does take a beating.... Paul Brown invented the face mask and the radio helmet.... He also started measuring a players speed in the 40 yard sprint...This man was a football genius and many of his "inventions" are still used today... I wonder what the Paul Brown coaching tree looks like....... Peace T.Dawg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dencyguy Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 I'm not sure if there is one thing I would point to, but the evolution of the helmet as a category would be my pick. Especially with all the data that are coming in now about how traumatic the game is for players' brains, any advancement of helmet technology is a good thing. And I agree about the helmet-radios as well. And yep, Paul Brown was the first one to try radioing plays into the QB. But the technology didn't work yet, and the opposing players...well, here's part of a story on the experiment: >>The system debuted in a preseason game against the Detroit Lions. The Lions soon noticed that Brown wasn't shuttling plays through other players, as he normally did. They saw Ratterman dancing slowly with himself, a human antennae trying to pick up signals. They spotted a transmitter stashed on the sideline. That's when the Lions knew. They tried to rip Ratterman's helmet from his head, to break the unit or at least get a peek inside. "They were saying, 'Kick him in the head,'" said Ratterman, now 75 and living in Littleton. "It seems to me it wasn't working at that time. Other people would come on there and you could hear them talking. I took my helmet off and bounced it on the ground a few times, to show them, 'See, it's not even working.'"<< Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy Fan Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 I would have to give my vote to the cleats. Have you ever tried running in a pair of your 3-season old Nike's left in the garage rotting for 2 years? That's what Jim and Otto played in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaygroundLegend Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Im a fan of the new underarmour type tops/shorts with the built in hexagonal padding. I broke my collar bone 2 years ago playing Rugby and this new stuff might be the only thing that gets me back into full contact football/rugby because they dont make any other gear/braces/pads that protects the collarbone area as well. I think AP wears it. Light weight, and doesn't shift around at all, and it protects VERY well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernietheKid Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 The helmets themself, to me, has been the greatest innovation in football equipment.... As I mentioned in another thread, I'm an old fart... I played organized football from the 5th grade through college.... I got my first, single bar, face mask when I became a freshman in HS.... I used a mouthpiece for the first time in my senior year of HS... In conjunction to all of this, we were taught to tackle by putting your face in the runners belly button.... Thats the only part of the body that doesn't move... Where the belly button goes, thats where the body goes..... Without a face mask, your face surlely does take a beating.... Paul Brown invented the face mask and the radio helmet.... He also started measuring a players speed in the 40 yard sprint...This man was a football genius and many of his "inventions" are still used today... I wonder what the Paul Brown coaching tree looks like....... Peace T.Dawg Per Wikipedia: The following coaches either coached under or played for Paul Brown and were influenced at least to some degree by him and his football knowledge and offensive system: Blanton Collier (coach under Paul Brown) Weeb Ewbank (coach under Paul Brown) Abe Gibron (player) Sid Gillman (coach) Otto Graham (player for Paul Brown) Bill "Tiger" Johnson (coach under Paul Brown) Chuck Noll (player for Paul Brown) Ara Parseghian (player for Paul Brown) Lou Saban (player for Paul Brown) Don Shula (player for Paul Brown) Bill Walsh (coach under Paul Brown) Sam Wyche (player and head coach under team President Paul Brown) Also Otto Grahm said that Lombardi would come and watch the team practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.