General manager of the NFL football team Denver Broncos. [1976-1981]
First recipient of the Daniel F. Reeves Pioneer Award, presented by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in 1972.
Played football for the National Football League's Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams (1940, 1945-49), and in 1950 for the Chicago Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers.
Fred made 3 major contributions to the game of football:
1. He developed the first helmet with a full facemask, in 1946, after having his nose broken 3 times during the playing season.
2. You have all watched kickers work the net, likely without any thought that someone actually had to invent this. Yes, that was Fred. He thought that kickers would be better in a game if they could warm up on the sidelines, but how? You could not have them kicking the ball into the stands, or onto the field of play. So he designed a net into which kickers could kick while getting ready to enter a game.
And the most notible of his contributions.....
3. Fred brought color to the game! Virtually every pro, college and high school team has a logo of some form on its helmet. But the idea started somewhere, and it was with Fred Gehrke of the Los Angeles Rams. In 1948, to boost his team's morale, Fred put his art training from the University of Utah to good use when he designed the first helmet logo, while playing for the Rams. In his home garage, Fred hand-painted the design he created, on each Rams players helmet. There was an audible “Ooooh” from the 92,000 fans in the Coliseum when the Rams first took the field wearing logos on their helmets, an absolute first in pro football. The Rams still use his design and colors to this day, as their identifying logo.
For a more complete profile of Fred's life and career:
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gehrke-103
His mother-in-law's Memorial# 85362915 (Carmela Carusello)
His niece's Memorial# 122621733 (Julie Doone Seely)
First recipient of the Daniel F. Reeves Pioneer Award, presented by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in 1972.
Played football for the National Football League's Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams (1940, 1945-49), and in 1950 for the Chicago Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers.
Fred made 3 major contributions to the game of football:
1. He developed the first helmet with a full facemask, in 1946, after having his nose broken 3 times during the playing season.
2. You have all watched kickers work the net, likely without any thought that someone actually had to invent this. Yes, that was Fred. He thought that kickers would be better in a game if they could warm up on the sidelines, but how? You could not have them kicking the ball into the stands, or onto the field of play. So he designed a net into which kickers could kick while getting ready to enter a game.
And the most notible of his contributions.....
3. Fred brought color to the game! Virtually every pro, college and high school team has a logo of some form on its helmet. But the idea started somewhere, and it was with Fred Gehrke of the Los Angeles Rams. In 1948, to boost his team's morale, Fred put his art training from the University of Utah to good use when he designed the first helmet logo, while playing for the Rams. In his home garage, Fred hand-painted the design he created, on each Rams players helmet. There was an audible “Ooooh” from the 92,000 fans in the Coliseum when the Rams first took the field wearing logos on their helmets, an absolute first in pro football. The Rams still use his design and colors to this day, as their identifying logo.
For a more complete profile of Fred's life and career:
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gehrke-103
His mother-in-law's Memorial# 85362915 (Carmela Carusello)
His niece's Memorial# 122621733 (Julie Doone Seely)
General manager of the NFL football team Denver Broncos. [1976-1981]
First recipient of the Daniel F. Reeves Pioneer Award, presented by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in 1972.
Played football for the National Football League's Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams (1940, 1945-49), and in 1950 for the Chicago Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers.
Fred made 3 major contributions to the game of football:
1. He developed the first helmet with a full facemask, in 1946, after having his nose broken 3 times during the playing season.
2. You have all watched kickers work the net, likely without any thought that someone actually had to invent this. Yes, that was Fred. He thought that kickers would be better in a game if they could warm up on the sidelines, but how? You could not have them kicking the ball into the stands, or onto the field of play. So he designed a net into which kickers could kick while getting ready to enter a game.
And the most notible of his contributions.....
3. Fred brought color to the game! Virtually every pro, college and high school team has a logo of some form on its helmet. But the idea started somewhere, and it was with Fred Gehrke of the Los Angeles Rams. In 1948, to boost his team's morale, Fred put his art training from the University of Utah to good use when he designed the first helmet logo, while playing for the Rams. In his home garage, Fred hand-painted the design he created, on each Rams players helmet. There was an audible “Ooooh” from the 92,000 fans in the Coliseum when the Rams first took the field wearing logos on their helmets, an absolute first in pro football. The Rams still use his design and colors to this day, as their identifying logo.
For a more complete profile of Fred's life and career:
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gehrke-103
His mother-in-law's Memorial# 85362915 (Carmela Carusello)
His niece's Memorial# 122621733 (Julie Doone Seely)
First recipient of the Daniel F. Reeves Pioneer Award, presented by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in 1972.
Played football for the National Football League's Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams (1940, 1945-49), and in 1950 for the Chicago Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers.
Fred made 3 major contributions to the game of football:
1. He developed the first helmet with a full facemask, in 1946, after having his nose broken 3 times during the playing season.
2. You have all watched kickers work the net, likely without any thought that someone actually had to invent this. Yes, that was Fred. He thought that kickers would be better in a game if they could warm up on the sidelines, but how? You could not have them kicking the ball into the stands, or onto the field of play. So he designed a net into which kickers could kick while getting ready to enter a game.
And the most notible of his contributions.....
3. Fred brought color to the game! Virtually every pro, college and high school team has a logo of some form on its helmet. But the idea started somewhere, and it was with Fred Gehrke of the Los Angeles Rams. In 1948, to boost his team's morale, Fred put his art training from the University of Utah to good use when he designed the first helmet logo, while playing for the Rams. In his home garage, Fred hand-painted the design he created, on each Rams players helmet. There was an audible “Ooooh” from the 92,000 fans in the Coliseum when the Rams first took the field wearing logos on their helmets, an absolute first in pro football. The Rams still use his design and colors to this day, as their identifying logo.
For a more complete profile of Fred's life and career:
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gehrke-103
His mother-in-law's Memorial# 85362915 (Carmela Carusello)
His niece's Memorial# 122621733 (Julie Doone Seely)
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