Hannibal Lector?

[smokeyburgess]

Kind of resembles him, but it's none than Fred Gehrke, the first NFL player to wear to wear a facemask. He played halfback for the old Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams in the 40's. He designed the fearsome-looking mask in 1947 after his nose had been broken 3 times. It protected his face, but it obscured his peripheral vision, so he bagged it the next season.

But he didn't stop there. For the 1948 season, he designed the first helmet logo in NFL history: the awesome ram horns curling around both sides of the then leather helmet. It was kind of primitive at first, but as years passed, it became the coolest-looking helmet in the league. Only the splendid wings logo on the Eagles helmet rivals it today.

After his playing career, Gehrke continued to be a respected force in NFL coaching and management. He was also the great grandfather of the Brewers' Christian Yelich.

 

[Vitamike]

 

[Vitamike]

Here's some that didn't make it along with above...

I think they got it right!

 

[Vitamike]

This is a replica, however here is the story...

1948 – The Horns

The 1948 uniform change is arguably the most notable one. Aside from dropping blue shoulders there isn’t much difference in this uniform and the one from 1945, save for one crucial element. Horns. The Rams were the first professional football franchise to put a logo on the helmet. A Rams player and graphic artist by the name of Fred Gehrke had the idea to paint the helmet blue and design the horns on either side of the helmet. As the story goes, Gehrke was paid to paint all 75 helmets at $1.00 each.

 

[LongtimeRamsFan42]

Did he eat his liver with some Fava beans and a nice Chianti???? (Slurp!!!!)

 

[Vitamike]

As the story goes, Gehrke was paid to paint all 75 helmets at $1.00 each.

What gets me, this dude was paid a little over a grand in today's dollars to help establish a logo licensing base the Multi-Billion dollar NFL has lived off of for decades!

Calculate the value of $75 in 1945. How much was inflation of $75 in 1945?