In the News

Union City High School football players will soon have new and safer helmets. School leaders said players will be wearing top-of-the-line Riddell Speedflex helmets, just in time for spring practice sessions. Approximately 50 helmets were ordered for the Union City Golden Tornadoes.

Sunday night’s Super Bowl wrapped up the NFL’s 100th season, and it also completed the sport of football’s 150th year of existence. Born on a New Jersey field, the game’s players, rules – and most of all, equipment – have evolved in this time. The technology infused into gameplans, uniform materials, and equipment has improved and become more innovative. However, one piece of equipment has seen more cutting-edge technology built into it than any piece ever before.

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 31-20 to win Super Bowl LIV in Miami on Sunday night, Feb. 2. After their comeback victory, let’s take another look back at the day that this professional football team reached out to a high school football team on Boston’s North Shore, when most of their equipment almost didn’t make it to Gillette Stadium for the Dec. 8 game against the New England Patriots.

From Cleveland to Columbus and Toledo to Cincinnati, Ohio is packed with companies who call the Buckeye State home. As part of the News 5 Cleveland Buckeye Built series, reporter Meg Shaw went behind the scenes to see how football helmets are made by hand at Riddell.

Jalen Hurts’ journey through college football is well-documented. The former Alabama and now-former Oklahoma quarterback continues to look forward as he moves to position himself for the upcoming NFL draft. The move started in earnest this week at the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Yet, the impact his college career has had on fans continues to be felt this week in Mobile.

Oklahoma or Alabama? That was a question some were curious about when Jalen Hurts was announced as a participant for the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. The question was answered Monday night: both.

WOOD RIVER — The East Alton-Wood River football alumni team has done much more than play alumni games the past three years. In fact, the group has raised funds to help the Oilers football team as well as other athletic groups in the community. The most recent contribution by the EA-WR alumni is a state-of-the-art electronic system aimed at detecting severe blows to the head that will give coaches critical live information during a game.

It’s the most important job of a college football equipment manager, and one Purdue associate director of equipment Kyle Gergely takes seriously. Each week, Gergely and his staff goes through the 120 or more helmets worn by players during practices and games, checking for cracks, damaged chin straps or other irregularities.

Time look back at the top sports stories in central Illinois for the past year. In our annual top ten list of the biggest sports stories, here’s a look at the first five. No. 10: Peoria High School receives a grant from football equipment maker Riddell, which picks the Lions as a ‘team of the future’ and outfits the players in new helmets and shoulder pads for the season.

Long gone are the days of the leather shell and single-bar face mask. Today’s football helmets are technological marvels, using cutting edge materials and design elements to make the headgear the safest it’s been in the 100th season of the NFL. No piece of protective equipment has undergone as much transformation over the past decade as the helmet. Through a combination of technological advancements, investment by the NFL and an open marketplace for development, helmets are rapidly evolving — with more innovation on the horizon.