Brain Bucket: Daze of Future Past

Part 4 in a series on the American game of war

Red Grange in 1917

The first protective headgear for football players appeared in the 1890s. Annapolis midshipman Joseph M. Reeves, who would go on to become the father of the aircraft carrier, is credited as the first player to wear one because he was told he risked death or “instant insanity” if he took another blow to the head while playing football. …