Before the 44s were honored in front of Orange Nation at halftime of the Syracuse-South Florida game on Saturday, there was a private ceremony in the new football weightlifting facility Friday night.

At one point in the evening, Jim Brown saw something he hadn’t seen in nearly 50 years – his helmet from his 1956 senior season at Syracuse. It was uncovered from the attic of former head coach Ben Schwartzwalder’s family home several years ago and sent to the College Football Hall of Fame, but Syracuse asked to borrow it for the weekend.

‘Boy, that looks like my helmet,’ Brown said. ‘This looks like the real deal.’

Brown was the only 44 to see a real deal of his helmet Friday. But thanks to Historic Helmets, Inc., Brown, Ernie Davis’ mother Marie Fleming and Floyd Little received exact replicas of their versions on Saturday.

In only six years, the once-fledgling company started by semi-retired football fans Curtis Worrell and Jim Parker has grown into the only national manufacturer of old-time helmets in the country. Helmet Hut, as it’s called, expanded to colleges several years ago. This weekend, the company silently enhanced the retirement ceremony of 44, some of the most famous digits in all of college football.

All of the parts Helmet Hut orders for every headpiece are from different companies around the country that produce old-style products. That way, each helmet is an exact replica. Like many helmets from the ’50s, Jim Brown’s senior season helmet features 70 separate pieces, including a Lucite bar facemask, a leather chinstrap and crown piece, rugged six-point suspension and a 32-hole ventilation system. The Davis and Little helmets contain other amenities such as tubular-style facemasks, protective front nose bumpers and snap-in type leather jaw pads.

The earliest Syracuse helmet that Helmet Hut offers is the 1944-54 version that Brown wore in his sophomore and junior years. The one from the Hall of Fame and the one Helmet Hut presented him Saturday was from 1955-56. The next version, in play from 1957-60 and worn by Ernie Davis in his first two years, was the first to add numbers to the back the helmet. Worrell explained the numbers were moved to the center of the helmet for the 1961-73 version, worn by Floyd Little, for television purposes.

Syracuse Director of Athletics Daryl Gross contacted Helmet Hut right after deciding to retire the number. Worrell said the company has had a good relationship with the school going back to the uncovering of the Jim Brown helmet. The former 44s on hand Saturday for South Florida’s 27-0 win over the Orange received a helmet from Gross and Syracuse Chancellor Nancy Cantor at midfield. Players that wore 44 besides Brown, Davis and Little, like Michael Owens and Rob Konrad, received helmets in the Little mold.

‘The game was horrible, but it was like everyone forgot that for 15 minutes and stood like it was some championship game,’ Worrell said. ‘What was amazing was some of these people didn’t understand, but they knew something important was going on and we were part of it. Daryl did a great job – this was his baby.’

The finding of Brown’s helmet several years ago set off Helmet Hut’s relationship with Syracuse. When family members of Schwartzwalder sold his house, they found it sitting in a box. It still had purple streaks on it from Texas Christian players’ purple helmets Brown faced in the Cotton Bowl to conclude his SU career. Also, Brown had written his name inside in several places. Worrell said players normally only wrote their number.

‘That’s the equivalent of finding a Babe Ruth-signed bat,’ Worrell said.

The story made national news wires. Worrell said it was easily the biggest find in the helmet business. The family sold the helmet to the College Football Hall of Fame and Helmet Hut bought its mold. It was the latest chapter in a bizarre history for the company.

Worrell randomly found another person – Parker – on the Internet with his hobby of collecting old helmets. At the time, Worrell’s father was dabbling in Internet page design and created the Web site, HelmetHut.com. Worrell hates the name but can’t change it now because that’s how all 65,000 people a day who visit the site know it as. The company was 18 months old before he and Parker even met in person.

On Saturday, Helmet Hut played a big role in honoring one of the greatest numbers in college football history. Its authentic helmets accented the presentation as a retired No. 44 jersey was unveiled in the Southwest corner of the Carrier Dome.

Had Brown’s helmet never been found, the special helmets may not have been part of the ceremony to retire 44. Thanks to Worrell and Parker, all the 44s got a piece of the real deal.

Ethan Ramsey is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns usually appear on Tuesdays, except this week because he couldn’t stop waving his Terrible Towel after the Steelers win Sunday night. You can e-mail him at egramsey@gmail.com

Published on November 14, 2005 at 12:00 pm