Adapting a Football Helmet

It was a Saturday morning in the fall of 1941. Before a crucial MH Homecoming football game, two of our All-Star tackles tangled. Matt and Jeremy, ficticious names, had been competing all season for the most tackles, but now their passions became personally competitive. In the midst of one of their fights in a corner room of Jubilee Hall, Jeremy grabbed an empty beer bottle and slammed it over Matt's head. Matt had a goose egg-sized lump, and the question was how he could get his helmet over his enlarged head even if he could play that afternoon.

Coach Kregel was called to the scene and, after reprimanding the two players, went back to Founder's Gym and cut a piece of sponge rubber the shape of a donut with a hole big enough to fit over the bump and under Matt's helmet. That afternoon, Jeremy and Matt were at their best--each getting 8-10 tackles and helping the Muskies to win the game.

Rev. Paul H. Olm-Stoelting '43