Desmond Howard Michigan Helmet

[mlupo]

Does anyone know what brand of helmet Desmond Howard wore at Michigan? I am planning on going to a signing next month and I would like to make up a copy of his 91 Heisman year helmet. I have both Riddell and Schutt authentic proline helmets, I assume it was one of those brands. If anyone knows or has a good clear photo of the helmet when he was doing the Heisman pose after the TD vs. OSU in 91 that would be great, all the photos I have found are too low res.

[aeneas01]

howard wore a schutt at michigan, lots of images of his famous heisman pose available on the net, just google it using google images or the like. as far as you "making up a copy" of his helmet is concerned, that may be easier said than done depending on how accurate you want your helmet to be... the problem is michigan painted their helmets (those aren't decals). moreover, michigan's paint process was somewhat involved: start with a molded yellow (green bay gold) schutt helmet, spray paint the exterior "maize" yellow, mask off the michigan wing area, spray paint the helmet navy blue, remove the masked area.

some options: purchase a michigan gamer on ebay or from forum member larry p., send a yellow molded shell to the folks at helmet hut and ask them to paint it for you or, the easiest, just purchase a navy schutt helmet and pick up wing and award decals on ebay (or you could ask forum member "helemts" to make up one of these type of decal helmets for you). of course by using a navy helmet with decals you won't be getting very close to what desmond wore on the field, but it should display nicely...

[BrianK]

Michigan helmets are absolutely fascinating. Just look at the differences in the striping on the two helmets in the photo. Great stuff.

[mlupo]

howard wore a schutt at michigan, lots of images of his famous heisman pose available on the net, just google it using google images or the like. as far as you "making up a copy" of his helmet is concerned, that may be easier said than done depending on how accurate you want your helmet to be... the problem is michigan painted their helmets (those aren't decals). moreover, michigan's paint process was somewhat involved: start with a molded yellow (green bay gold) schutt helmet, spray paint the exterior "maize" yellow, mask off the michigan wing area, spray paint the helmet navy blue, remove the masked area.

some options: purchase a michigan gamer on ebay or from forum member larry p., send a yellow molded shell to the folks at helmet hut and ask them to paint it for you or, the easiest, just purchase a navy schutt helmet and pick up wing and award decals on ebay (or you could ask forum member "helemts" to make up one of these type of decal helmets for you). of course by using a navy helmet with decals you won't be getting very close to what desmond wore on the field, but it should display nicely...

Thanks Robert.....great info. The proline Schutt helmet I already have is not a decal, it's similar to what you described. I am not looking make a perfect copy, just something that on display will look pretty accurate. I already have the Schutt helmet with MICHIGAN front bumper, award decals, and 21 decal. Finding an image of him wasn't the problem, I just couldnt find one where I could tell who made the helmet(I'm not a helmet expert). Thanks again...I'll post photos when I get it done.

[mlupo]

Michigan helmets are absolutely fascinating. Just look at the differences in the striping on the two helmets in the photo. Great stuff.

Thanks for the help on the photo, although I am really looking for a clear shot of the back of his helmet. GREAT EYE catching the striping!

[BrianK]

Tip-offs to a Schutt helmet (vs Riddell of the same era) are:
- ventilation holes on top
- no center ridge

Sounds like you're good to go !

[halzeus]

Here are a couple of screen grabs from the 1991 Michigan-Ohio State game.

Not the best pics, but they might help with placement of the award stickers.

[mlupo]

BrianK and Halzeus thanks a lot for the help on the pics, those should be enough to get a decent copy made.

[halzeus]

Glad I could help.

I'm looking forward to seeing pics of the finished project.

I have a few Michigan game helmets and jerseys.

[mlupo]

I customized my helmet and got it signed on Saturday at the Gridiron Greats show. I realize the sticker placement isn't exact and I am missing the warning sticker, but I needed to leave room for the autograph itself. The coolest part of the story was when I handed the helmet to Desmond for him to sign(keep in mind he had probably already signed 50 full size helmets at this point), he looks at it, spins it around and gives it a good look all over and says to me, "This is a REALLY nice helmet! Where did you get this?"
I got a few other items signed as well, I'll be happy to post pics if anyone is interested.