Helmet Hut, Warsaw, Indiana -- Fascinating Business Restores Riddell Helmets To Glory

Several months ago I became immersed in Linebacker Sam Huff's autobiography "Tough Stuff". On the cover is a close up of Huff, wearing his #70 NY Giants helmet with a huge "cowcatcher" face mask, dirt and turf stuck between the mask and the helmet. Later in his career, Sam was traded to the Washington Redskins, a move that he is still bitter about today.
About the time I was finishing the book, I spotted the burgundy Redskins helmet you see pictured here -- on eBay -- and just had to have it! I managed to come in with the highest bid and it is one of my favorite sports artifacts!

So I did some research on who refinished and refurbished the helmet as I was very impressed with the professional job that was done with it.

I found out that it was done by a company called Helmet Hut and their reputation is so good that even Riddell sends their own helmets to them when they need any kind of help or advice.

Helmet Hut is located in Warsaw, Indiana, where, oddly enough, I did several seasons of summer stock theatre. In fact, I was there the summer that Neill took one small step for a man, one giant leap for all mankind.



I contacted Helmet Hut recently to see if they could restore the other Riddell helmet you see. I asked that they restore it as the helmet belonging to Bart Starr during Superbowl I and II -- Bart was chosen MVP of both those games and I thought it would be so cool to have a representation of his helmet.

Who knows -- maybe some day I will get to meet Mr. Starr and get him to autograph it.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

The first step was to ship the helmet to them in Warsaw for an appraisal, which I did. I got word back this morning that they received the helmet and I decided to have them go ahead with the refurbishing and restoration.

So what you see is how the helmet looked when I shipped it to them. I have asked that they stay in contact with me and send me updated pictures. If and when they do, I will show them on the blog.

In addition to being capable craftsmen, they are really enjoyable to visit with by e mail. They make you feel comfortable and right at home. Is that because they are "Hoosiers"?


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