Do college football players get to keep their helmets when they graduate

Playing football at a college level can be an extremely rewarding experience. This can be the desire to represent the school they attend and/or to make it to the big leagues in the National Football League (NFL). Despite these genuine desires, one may ask, can a college graduate who played college football keep their helmet?

When college football players graduate, they cannot keep their helmets. Football helmets are properties of the university that issued them. Some exceptions may be considered such as players purchasing the helmet for themselves. Each university will vary and depend on its funding.

This article is going to look further into why football players cannot keep their college football helmets and what exceptions could be made to keep them.

Why Helmets?

Before we talk about reasons why college football graduates can or cannot keep their own helmets, let’s briefly explain why helmets are some of the most popular souvenirs for some.

Perhaps the two most familiar pieces of any football player is the jersey and the helmet.

Helmets, in this case, is an all-too-familiar attribute of a football player that everyone knows about and understands why.

This headwear not only protects its user from intense collisions but also provides style based on the model and decals that many college football players wear proudly.

Football helmets, in a way, are more exclusive to own as they aren’t easily attainable nor stored well in most homes.

This is probably why jerseys are preferable as they display the university the football player came from and are easier to display.

Regardless of this, helmets continue to be a special commodity to own, if possible.

Why Can’t College Football Graduates Keep the Helmets

University’s Property

The primary reason why no college football graduate can keep their helmet is that the helmets that were issued to each of the players belong to the university.

The respective university that a player may come from provides nearly all of the football equipment such as training clothes, shoes, pads, and helmets.

Though property of the university, clothing articles such as training shorts, shirts, and thermal wear may be automatically given to the players who use them, regardless of price, since they are relatively inexpensive compared to the larger helmets and pads.

Individual Helmet Costs

When it comes to the helmets the university pays for, they can range from $200 to $300 on average.

Higher-priced helmets will depend on the brand, materials used for the construction of the helmet, and the production date of the helmet.

For some examples of what some universities pay for, at Mississippi State, helmet prices are about $620. At Baylor University, helmets range from $650 to $800.

Lastly, at the University of Nebraska, helmets are priced on the cheaper end at $350.

Overall, some universities will not allow college football graduates to keep their helmets because of the funds already expended on these helmets.

Smaller universities that offer a degree in college football may suffer more since funds are relatively scarce and cannot allow any equipment to be given away.

Larger universities, on the other hand, may allow this due to their well-funded sports programs.

Non-Senior Football Players

Even when a university can easily attain helmets for their players and give away old ones to college football graduates, they may not allow those who are not in their senior years to keep their helmets, assuming these players do not play during their senior year.

This may also apply to those who fail to graduate their senior year, obviously, as this article is focused on those who graduated.

Alongside not being permitted to keep their helmets if not playing during their senior year and failing to graduate, college football players could be refused to keep their helmets if they haven’t been part of their university team for a long time.

For example, if college football player plays during their freshman and junior years, they may not be considered regardless of performance, assuming that they should play at least three of their four college years.

How Can College Football Graduates Keep the Helmets

University Sells Older Helmets and Equipment

Now that we have discussed the reasons why college football graduate cannot keep their helmets, let’s shift over to reasons and ways a player may keep or attain one.

With the ability to purchase their own helmets, graduating college football players may have the opportunity to use their own money to spend on either their own or a brand-new helmet.

As the years pass on and helmets and equipment are used often for training and game days, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the university will eventually want to retire these.

The overuse of these helmets, for example, will cause lasting damage and reduced functionality and would be best sold to those interested.

In addition, some universities may sell their helmets and equipment just because newer models are releasing, and the university is interested in updating their current stuff.

Again, college football graduate may potentially keep their own helmets at a cost. If they cannot purchase their own helmets, many others are available for purchase such as fan helmets.

Gifted by Coaches and/or the University

On some occasions, a college football graduate may be able to keep their own helmet without having to pay a fee.

Depending on the college football player’s reputation and performance on the field, they could be granted their own helmet as a gift from either the coaches and/or the university.

This can be because of their extraordinary performance on the playing field during their entire college career or even during their last season regardless of their school year, though not common.

This may be especially applicable when a college football graduate gets drafted into the NFL, which is an outstanding accomplishment on its own.

Either or, a player can be rewarded for their hard work by those they played under, both coach and university.

Hopefully, this article has helped you understand the reasons behind keeping their own helmets for college football players graduating.