<P> In 1939 , the Riddell Company of Chicago , Illinois started manufacturing plastic helmets because it felt that plastic helmets would be safer than those made of leather . Plastic was found to be more effective because it held its shape when full collision contact occurred on a play . These helmets were also much more comfortable and had more padding to cushion the head in an impact . Included with the plastic helmet came plastic face mask , which allowed the helmet to protect the entire head . By the mid-1940s , helmets were required in the NFL . They were still made of leather , but with improved manufacturing techniques had assumed their more familiar spherical shape . The NFL initially allowed either plastic or leather helmets , but in 1948 the league outlawed the plastic helmet , considering the hard - plastic material to be an injury risk . The NFL repealed this rule in 1949 , and by 1950 , the plastic helmet had become universal in that league . </P>
<P> In 1939 , the Riddell Company of Chicago , Illinois started manufacturing plastic helmets because it felt that plastic helmets would be safer than those made of leather . Plastic was found to be more effective because it held its shape when full collision contact occurred on a play . These helmets were also much more comfortable and had more padding to cushion the head in an impact . Included with the plastic helmet came plastic face mask , which allowed the helmet to protect the entire head . By the mid-1940s , helmets were required in the NFL . They were still made of leather , but with improved manufacturing techniques had assumed their more familiar spherical shape . The NFL initially allowed either plastic or leather helmets , but in 1948 the league outlawed the plastic helmet , considering the hard - plastic material to be an injury risk . The NFL repealed this rule in 1949 , and by 1950 , the plastic helmet had become universal in that league . </P>
when did they stop using leather helmets in football
when did they stop using leather helmets in football
by 1950
by 1950