Riddell has a long and storied history of innovation when it comes to sports equipment. John Tate Riddell started this company with a simple but brilliant idea to make sporting equipment safer, better, and easier to use for athletes. Many years, and hundreds of great ideas later, we're still sporting better by making better equipment. It all started with the removable cleat, the brainchild of Riddell who at the time was the Head Football Coach and Athletic Director of Evanston Township High School. This innovation was just one of many Riddell "firsts" that revolutionized the sporting equipment landscape. In 1939, Riddell had another breakthrough. He invented and perfected the first plastic suspension helmet. Invented for the football field, the United States Government quickly saw its be