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The Tiger Helmet Princeton’s orange and black "Tiger Helmet" is a distinctive piece of the University’s sports tradition. Designed by legendary Hall of Fame coach Herbert O. "Fritz" Crisler h22 and first worn by the undefeated national championship team of 1935, this colorful headgear provides a link to one of the great eras in the heralded football history of Old Nassau.
Charley Toll '38, This distinctive helmet design which originated at Princeton - where intercollegiate football was born - is a reminder to students, alumni, fans and worthy opponents of all the great Tiger players who ever proudly represented Old Nassau on the gridiron. |
Princeton athletic lore holds
that the helmet was styled to represent a fighting tiger
with its ears flared back and three symbolic orange
stripes running sleekly from front to back matching the
traditional tiger striping on the jersey. At a time when
all helmets were similar, Coach Crisler thought that this
highly visible emblem would help quarterbacks more
readily spot their downfield receivers. When Crisler left
Princeton in 1938, he took the helmet design with him to
Michigan, where in maize and blue it became an icon of
that university’s football program.