The Main producer of Riddell Revolution helmets is the subsidiary company Riddell. Riddell was founded in 1929 by John Tate Riddell after he had created the first ever removable cleat. This product allowed John to leave his high school and start his own company. In 1929 he founded his own company reaching for “innovation, protection, and performance.”
In 1939 Riddell produced its first plastic helmet to be worm for football. This how ever did not become very successful due to the plastic breaking on impact more often then not. That very next year Riddell produced its first chin strap to be worn to keep the helmet on the heads of football players. The chin strap was padded to not only keep on the helmet but also act as a protection for the chin when hitting or getting hit in football.
In the 1940’s Riddell produced it first ever thermoplastic helmet that allowed for color to be baked into the helmet and made the helmet more impact safe when worn. They then added a suspension inside the helmet for comfort and more protection from impact. Due to this helmet system the U.S. Government was allowed to use it for there own helmets during World War II.
In 1951 a player for the browns took a shot to the face by an elbow causing serious damage so the Brown’s coach Paul Brown created a bar like piece of equipment to protect his players face. Paul Brown took this patented idea to Riddell who began to produce the face mask for helmets. Paul Brown actually used the money from the face mask to start his own NFL team called the Cincinnati Bengals.
In 1962 the first nose protection bar was introduced to increase protection. And following that year Riddell started to use air-filled padding inside there helmets called the TAK-29. By 1969 Riddell to improve safety started to use molding fitted helmets to increase the structural integrity of there helmets. In 1973 Riddell was the first company to get there helmets passed by the NOCSAE to be used in the NFL. The NOCSAE is the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment. This company was established to make sports as a whole safer for there athletes. You can find out more about them through this link: http://nocsae.org/about-nocsae/history-and-purpose/.
In 1977 Riddell started to produce stainless steel face masks. Other companies were allowed to also but none could match the lightness of Riddell face masks.
In 1982 Riddell created a new padding and suspension system for the helmet. They combined liquid and padding to help with the transfer of impact through out the helmet. As a result it helped limit the impact taken by the football players.
In 1992 Riddell developed and made a VSR or “Various Size Range” helmet that became used by over 60 percent were used by the National FootballLeague.
In 2002 Riddell developed and marked the Riddell Revolution Helmet which was specifically designed to reduce Concussions. In 2007 Riddell used a Revolution IQ Hits system which was used to monitor and record the severity of impact that players were taking. In 2008 Riddell came up with an updated version of the Revolution called the Revolution Speed. This helmet is the most recognized helmet in the world that is used to try and reduce the risk of injury and concussions. Riddell is continuing to increase there technology and equipment to make the game of Football safer for all ages.
