Eagles•Unique Columns
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The iconic silver wings of Philadelphia Eagles helmets appear in every game, on television replays, and in photographs that have captured the franchise’s history.
But have you ever wondered what lies beneath the paint on the helmets worn by Jalen Hurts or Jordan Mailata?
Who makes them? Does every player wear the same model? How has technology evolved to protect players from impacts?
The answers bring together more than a century of history, laboratory testing, and the unsung work of the equipment staff behind the scenes.
🕰️ Philadelphia Eagles Helmets: From Leather to High Tech
When the league we now know as the NFL was founded in 1920, players wore rudimentary protective gear made primarily of leather. Some even took the field without any head protection.
The league made helmets mandatory in 1943, and six years later began adopting plastic models. The introduction of more durable materials, interior padding, and facemasks gradually transformed helmet design.
The famous decorative wings first appeared in 1954, thanks to Jim Trimble, the Eagles’ head coach from 1952 to 1955. Inspired by the helmets of the Los Angeles Rams, which featured horns on the sides, Trimble wanted to create a distinctive visual identity for Philadelphia.
The design underwent several changes before 1996, when the Eagles introduced Midnight Green and revamped their look.
Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
⚙️ Brands, Materials, and Impact Testing
A century later, Philadelphia Eagles helmets have evolved into feats of modern engineering. Among the manufacturers whose models were evaluated by the NFL in 2026 are Riddell, VICIS, Schutt, and LIGHT.
Although their designs incorporate different technologies, they all share four basic components:
🔹 Outer shell: a rigid structure designed to withstand and distribute impact forces.
🔹 Impact absorption system: internal materials and structures that help reduce the energy transmitted to the head.
🔹 Facemask: a protective grille that shields the face, with configurations that can vary according to a player’s needs.
🔹 Chinstrap: a fastening system that keeps the helmet securely in place during movement and contact.
For additional protection, players can also use Guardian Caps, padded foam covers developed by U.S.-based Guardian Sports that fit over the outside of the helmet. Their flexible padding is designed to absorb and disperse impact energy, adding another layer of protection over the helmet.
They are primarily worn during padded practices, although the NFL has also allowed players to wear them in games since 2024. They are mandatory for certain positions during practice unless a player wears a helmet model that provides equivalent or greater protection.
Custom manufacturing allows a helmet’s internal components to be tailored to each athlete’s anatomy using 3D scans of their head. One example is the Riddell Axiom 3D, which incorporates impact-absorbing components produced through 3D printing.
To select the most suitable model, players receive guidance from their team’s equipment staff, with the goal of finding the right balance between safety, fit, and comfort.
🏈 Does Jalen Hurts Need the Same Protection as Jordan Mailata?
The physical demands of football vary by position, and manufacturers have begun developing specialized helmets to address those differences. Philadelphia offers three clear examples:
➡️ Jalen Hurts (quarterback): faces the risk of head-to-turf impacts when brought down on sacks.
➡️ Jordan Mailata (offensive tackle): protects the quarterback in the trenches, absorbing repeated, often lower-speed contact with opposing defenders throughout the game.
➡️ Quinyon Mitchell (cornerback): covers receivers and makes tackles in the open field, where hits can come from multiple angles.
The NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), the union representing players, conduct position-specific evaluations for quarterbacks, offensive linemen, and defensive linemen.
During the 2025 season, 35% of players at positions with specialized helmet options wore one of those models, according to league data released in April 2026.
These positional differences help explain why the NFL offers specialized options, although that does not mean every player at the same position wears the same model.
🧰 Behind the Scenes: The Guardians of the Locker Room
Keeping Philadelphia Eagles helmets ready for game day requires constant attention from the team’s equipment staff.
At the Jefferson Health Training Complex, the franchise’s practice facility formerly known as the NovaCare Complex, Greg Delimitros, Vice President of Equipment Operations, oversees helmet preparation, fitting, and maintenance throughout the season alongside his staff.
Delimitros joined the Eagles in 2004 and received the Whitey Zimmerman Award in 2016, recognizing the NFL’s top equipment manager.
His department also handles purchasing, organizing, and transporting the gear the team needs, inspecting its condition, and making any necessary adjustments. Each NFL franchise provides equipment to its players, even when it is customized, without requiring them to pay out of pocket.
In August 2024, the Eagles’ official website published an article about the work of the equipment department. It included a photograph of Delimitros and Craig Blake, an assistant in the department, fitting Quinyon Mitchell’s helmet.
The example illustrates an essential part of the process: even after selecting a suitable model, the staff must make sure it fits the player’s head properly.
Communication with players is crucial to understanding their preferences, identifying comfort issues, and making the adjustments they need.
🔬 The Science Behind the Traffic Light: How Is Safety Measured?
Every year, biomechanics specialists appointed by the NFL and NFLPA subject different helmet models to laboratory tests that simulate impacts representative of professional football.
The results are published in the annual NFL-NFLPA Helmet Performance Poster, which helps players and teams compare helmet models based on their laboratory performance.
For 2026, approved models were divided into two categories:
🟢 Top-Performing: helmets that achieved the best results in impact reduction testing.
🟡 Not Recommended: models that remain permitted but performed below the highest-rated group.
🔴 The league also maintains a separate list of prohibited models.
According to official data, helmets in the Top-Performing group recorded a concussion rate nearly 30% lower than those classified as Not Recommended.
The adoption of more advanced equipment increased during 2025: 97% of players wore custom-fitted helmets, and nearly six in ten returning players switched to a higher-rated model.
🛡️ The NFL’s Next Challenge: Facemasks
During the 2025 season, 44% of concussions recorded in games involved some component of the facemask.
In response to these findings, the NFL launched a new edition of its HealthTECH Challenge in 2026, an innovation initiative aimed at developing technologies capable of reducing the effects of impacts to that part of the helmet.
🦅 The Helmet Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
Philadelphia Eagles helmets are instantly recognizable by their silver wings, but the protective equipment players rely on extends far beyond their heads.
What do players wear beneath their uniforms? Why are a lineman’s shoulder pads different from a quarterback’s? What other pieces of equipment come into play every time there is a collision?
The armor of modern football is designed piece by piece, in a technological race where the equipment department plays a crucial role.
In the next installment, we’ll go beneath the jersey to uncover the secrets of that unseen but essential gear.
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