Latest / The Scott Townsend Show / #253 More Than A Helmet: David Austin's Collection of NFL Memories
Transcript
- Scott M Townsend: Welcome to the Scott Townsend Show, brought to you by Diet Soman Productions. Hey, this is Scott Townsend. Welcome back to the Scott Townsend show. And today I have with me good friend, journalist, writer, movie actor, and just all around great guy, ⁓ David Austin. David, how's it going? Hey, doing well, Scott, man. Always great to talk with you. So ⁓ yeah, movie star, are you ⁓ with ⁓ Rachel McAdams and Ben Affleck? ⁓ what was that, the knowledge tree or something? Or ⁓ to the wonder. To the wonder. So I, you know, I got to, you know And in a pool scene and so ⁓ I think in in some of that I think you might be able to see my baiting screen that's went by. You know, so it was obviously a starting role, you know. I was flashing around and just a lot of good times. A lot of good times, a lot of great screen time. ⁓ you know, if I'm ever swimming and people see my trunks, they think, I know that guy, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think I've seen him somewhere before. Exactly. Or at least those trunks. At least those trunks, yeah. And I think you're the only person I I know the still calls swimming trun ⁓ a swimsuit trunks. Okay, yeah, I guess okay, swimsuit, trunks, just either one. Swimming shorts. I'm not sure what ⁓ what the vernacular is these days. I don't know if I'm a skip. Which is good. Yeah, that's that was that was required. So ⁓ so I I wanted to follow the directions in that regard. So I've known you for a long time and one of the things that intrigues me that One of the things that you have or do that intrigues me is and I this is the reason why you're on the show is because of your ⁓ NFL football helmet collection. And I yeah don't know of anybody that has a f I mean, people have a helmet or two. Maybe you've taken it to the extreme. Yes. Yes. It's ⁓ sadly for you know, my wife's somewhere, you know, it's ⁓ you know, she's maybe thinks I've taken it, you know, perhaps too far. And which is which would probably be a valid, you know, assessed. All right. What was the first helmet you ever added to your collection and what made you keep going after that? Yeah, so you know, I remember, you know, as a kid of the old ⁓ series catalogs and they would sell, you know, you know, my mom would have it, and you know, you're folding through or you know, my interests, you know, were you know, as a kid, you know, sports and comic books and stuff like that. So I'm remembering, you know, they would have like all, you know, the NFL helmets at that time, I think there were twenty eighteen to believe. looking at those and just kind of being bathed so they just look so cool and stuff. I I actually bought my first one ⁓ when I was in KU in Lawrence Kansas. And ⁓ so ⁓ it was dolphin salmon. I've been a dolphin fan most of my life. ⁓ great grandmother I remember going to T Mart with her as a five year old. And ⁓ they had a little dolphin settlement, a little Vikings helmet and I like the order with the fish on it. I've been a Dolphins fan ever since. And so I think I was in downtown New Orleans with some friends and ⁓ we went by a store and they had an authentic Dolphins helmet and I went in and decided to get in. And that was the first one. So it it I guess it dates back to college. And ⁓ and then from there, you know, if I happened to see one, I don't know wherever I happened to see it, you know, before the days of eBay and stuff like that. You know, I might pick it up. But it just I guess it just kinda started like that. I never there was no rhyme or reason to it, but it just kinda went back to those days of the looking at the old Sears catalog and just kind of being fascinated by them. ⁓ you know, obviously once you have one helmet you can't stop it there. So I I guess that was kind of the genesis of it. Yeah. Out of all your NFL and college helmets, which one has the best story behind how you acquired it? You know, it's funny, the the first one, the dolphins helmet that I got, ⁓ there in Lawrence. Like I said, I think it was just a little store there at and ⁓ downtown Lawrence. And I think it was just like a little you know, store that didn't necessarily specialize in anything. It was just kind of, you know, different stuff that they had acquired. And okay, so one of them's an authentic doll settlement. So I remember I got that and then ⁓ ended up well my my ⁓ I graduated high school in Japan. My mom ⁓ taught for the Department of Defense. And so after I graduated KU, I went back over and bought English and wrote for about a year and a half in Japan. And at that time I had some things, you know, from college days that were in a storage unit in Lawrence and probably paying more for the storage unit than I should have. And ⁓ among the items probably the one that I cared the most about was that Dolphins helmet. And so there I am paying my monthly fee on the storage. Again, much more than it I probably should have. And ⁓ I remember my dad telling me, you know, the money that I'm paying on that storage unit, they probably have my photo up there, you know, our benefactor or ⁓ whoever the owners of the storage unit were. And so ⁓ that was probably case. But so whatever I paid for the helmet and whatever I paid for the storage was ultimately much too much. And finally I closed out the storage unit. Like I said, I probably just kept it there for that for that goal and stuff. So that's ⁓ that was the one that started everything. And then, you know, I've just kind of acquired some different ones, you know, all the years. But it you know, got to the point where I have, you know, all there's thirty two teams in NFL now, so I have all of those. And ⁓ I even have a a Rams helmet chair, which hasn't been one of the ugliest things, but we're all about that we've seen it there and it's it's who knew that they would turn, you know, make a a chair that isn't the shape of a football helmet, but somehow I found managed to find that. So that's there in the man page, you know, looking gaunty and ugly. But more comfortable than you would think. A chair? Yes, a Ram's helmet chair. Yeah, I think yeah, I think you've seen it, have you? I'm I don't know. I don't think I have. I would think I would've remembered that. You know, as long as you can't see it, you know, once you look at it, you think, Wow, that's that's surprisingly ugly. I I don't know that I ever can see it. So maybe you haven't seen it. Yeah. Is there a holy grail helmet you're still chasing? ⁓ holy grail, ⁓ I don't know, 'cause you know, I've never been a guy who was big into autographs and stuff like that. I think most of the ones that I've wanted, you know, I've I've managed to acquire. And ⁓ you know, and it's cool, you know, you know, NFL, you know, the logos, you know, they evolve over the years, like my you know, the Dolphins, you know, they've probably gone through, I don't know, ⁓ I think four or five logo changes at this time. And so it's kinda like, okay, well one of the logos changes. Okay, wow, okay it'd be cool to get that one with a new logo. So I've done that with some different teams, you know, that have seen the logo's evolve and and most of the retro ones, you know, ⁓ like I always thought the the Falcons they had a red helmet to start with and then they evolved into a black helmet and then changed their logo a little bit. And so I wanted to make sure I got that old red helmet, you know, kind of the two bar look from back in the nineteen seventies. Same with the bingles. The bingles had an old, ugly kind of orange helmet with bingles just written across the side of it. And I've always thought that was retro cool. So I got that. So I've seen most of the ones that I've wanted, I've gotten. I think if if I had to think of any at this point that I might still want, you know, graduate university Kansas, it'd be cool to get a, you a cool Jayhawk. And it has kind of an old school look. It'd be kind of cool to get one that's ⁓ kind of the newer lord. You ⁓ so you do both NFL and college football's helmets. Yeah, I have a few college and mainly NFL. You know, I mean I love I love, you know, college football and NFL. You know, if I had to choose between the two, okay, Dave, you have to choose between NF w watching NFL or college, okay, I'll choose NFL. But I love both sports. But as far as collecting helmets for whatever reason, it's and I guess probably because of my preference between NFL over college, that's that's where most of my helmets are. They're the they're So how do you decide what helmets to add? Are you more about history, design, specific teams or something else? Yeah, ⁓ I guess it's ⁓ you know, y you know, go and I'll look, you know, sometimes I'm an opportunist. So if you go and you look and you look, you know, look on eBay to see what might be available and something's there that okay, I don't have that one and you know, it's you know, good price and everything, and it's kinda like, Okay, well hey, you know, maybe I'll get that one. You know, summer, you know, my wife would obviously like to see that added to the collection and so ⁓ you know, in order to you know live for experience and make her happy, you know, I'm benevolent in that regard, I go ahead. you know, acquired a helmet. But it's you know, it's ⁓ usually it's something like that. You know, it's it's, you know, just kind of doing a search around and thinking, ⁓ all right, well that's that's Alaskan. So maybe I'll I'll get that one. So I've done that. And I've I've run across some deals before. I remember ⁓ a few years ago going on ⁓ Amazon and they t had two helmets priced at ⁓ a really low price. And I thought, well they're Probably miniature helmets. Because you know, when you think of football helmets, most are, you know, you can buy an authentic that's full size, you know, that, you know, is like, you know, players wear on the field. You can buy some that are full size, but they're ⁓ a replica. And so the padding's not the same, and it's just ⁓ it's a replica. And then you can buy some that are miniature, so miniature version of an authentic helmet. And I remember one time looking and they had ⁓ a Giants and a Titan. And the price was so low, I thought, okay, well they they must be miniature helmets, but even for a little mini helmets, it'd be a good price. So I thought, okay, well I'll get those. And when I say a good price, it was like maybe forty dollars a piece or something. Very you know, very cheap. And anyway, when they when I get ⁓ when they mail them to me, through authentic helmets that they sold to me for like forty dollars apiece, which is kind of an unreal price. And ⁓ so that's how I ended up with a Titans and a Giants helmet is because they were basically given to me by Amazon. I couldn't Couldn't believe the deal. I think I still gotta think I'm gonna say but yeah, so you to answer your question, sometimes I'm just kinda an opportunity in that way. Yeah. Is is there ⁓ is there any difference between an NFL helmet and a college collegiate helmet? As far as the way that they're ⁓ that they're not really. You know, I I think other than, you know, just the design, you know, if it's a Michigan logo or ONU or KU or compared to a dolphins or cowboys or cheap. Whatever case may be. No. A as far as the way that the helmet's designed, really no. Rydell is kind of their their ⁓ helmet designs have have evolved, you know, over the years from the old two-bar look that you had, you know, back in the seven, a more modern look in the eighties and then nineties. And now it's, you know, you hear these iterations now of like a speed helmet for Rydell and a speed flex, which is even more evolved and consequently more expensive. So but they're all You know, when you see those evolutions of the helmets, ⁓ and again, Rydell was a big manufacturer. Rydell man manufactures them for both the NFL and for college. And they're gonna as far as the design of the basic helmet itself, it's gonna basically be basically the same thing. The only thing that really changes is what team it's for. Again, you know, yeah, one of the pro teams college ones. I'm sure that over the years, speaking of changes, helmet design has change from when they first started to what they have now. They definitely have. They definitely have. And and it's it's cool, you know, and you can go on eBay or you know, go on ⁓ Facebook marketplace or something like that. And people are, you know, it's like going to a rummage sale except, you know, obviously eBay eBay or Facebook Marketplace just kind of opens it up to where you can, you know, go to a rummage sale wherever you want to, you know, as long as somebody's posting their stuff online. And And you can go and you can find some of those old helmets from the sixties and seventies, you know, if you want to get those. But then Rydell also basically they redesigned the old helmets from the seventies that made new versions of those helmets, just recreated up. They didn't in the same way that they did back in the seventies. And so I got some of those because though you know, those were some of the first helmets that I can remember seeing as a kid. And so those kind of ⁓ resonated with me. And so I bought a few of those that Again, have the old two bar face mask and the old throwback logos and stuff like that. I just I always thought those were retro cool. So I have a you know, a few of those also. Do you have a favorite era of helmet design? Probably the old two bar. Because like I said, that those are the first ones that kind of fascinated me as a kid. So, you know, the old if you're looking back at old ⁓ game footage of Joe Nabeth with the Jets or, you know, Bob Greasy with the Dolphins or you know, Lynn Dawson with the Chiefs or Bart Starr or whatever. You know, a lot of times we're they were wearing those old two bar helmets. And ⁓ and I like I said, I just always thought those were were retro cool. I think of like Fred Blednikov wearing his old Raiders helmet, you know, back in the seventies also and poker and stick them and everything and Super Bowl eleven or something like that. So that kind of stuff I just always thought was real cool. So yeah, as far as design, it's probably that and like I said, it just resonates with me. But because that's what initially kind of ⁓ sparked my interest back in the day. If you don't mind saying so, what's the most valuable helmet in your collection, either, you know, financially or personally? Personally, ⁓ like I said, I've been a Dolphins fan, you know, virtually my entire life. And again, I'm like my great great grandmother, there would be probably somewhere she'd laughing at me but this, you know, Dolphins have caused me a lot of misery over the years. But I have a buddy of mine who gave me kind of an old two bar dolphins helmet. And ⁓ again it's a recreation, but he's a big Dolphins fan also, and he was able to get some autographs on it of some old Dolphins players. ⁓ none of it authenticated, but he was just at an event and you know, happened to bring his helmet with him in a Sharpie, and then he gave me that because Chuck and I have been friends for a long time. That's the probably the one that means the most to. ⁓ you know, he was kind enough to give them that. And so I just I appreciate it. And you know, Chuck and I You know, I do a lot of dolphin games together over the years with other friends of ours. ⁓ so that's that's probably the one that resonates with me the most. As well as the the first dolphin helmet that I ever had. So those those are probably the difference. And it's, you know, I guess sell value if we go. Have you ever had to pass on a helmet and regretted it later? Just think. If there's anything of hang I've spoken of. Nothing really jumps out at me that much. ⁓ like said one of the funniest helmets that I got was the The helmet chair that I have that's in my man came is a Rams helmet chair and ⁓ place that you know so it over the years sometimes, you know, my wife summer has ⁓ not ventilated whenever an Amazon package shows up on the doorstep or eBay or something like that. And she can tell the size of a box. Well, it's probably a football helmet and then she kind of wants to throw it punching. But anyway, friend of ours, whenever I decided, and it was probably not a great decision to get the Rams helmet chair. They had to ship it to Tulsa and then I drove to Tulsa and I think it was at a yes stop or something and I loaded into my car and then I drive it home. So anyway, at that time, a friend of ours was he had sold his house and he hadn't closed on the new house yet. So he was, you know, staying with us a few days, you know, just before he moved into his new house. And so anyway, he happened to be there at the time that I bought the Rams Helma chair. So I go to Tulsa, I pick up the Rams Helma chair, I drive back to Bartlesville and ⁓ And you Ran's Helba chair big, it's a chair. ⁓ it's bulky. So I'm taking it out of the car and everything and I think, Okay, well I need to get his helps. I ⁓ asked, Hey, can you help me unload something? So he goes up and he looks at me and looks at the Rant's helper chair and he thinks he says, Well what have you done? He said, Something's gonna kill you. I thought, Yeah, she probably will. But ⁓ if you could help me load it anyway, that'd be great, you know, or unload it. So we managed to get it down the stairs and everything and set up in there in the Van Cave. Summer didn't no notice it for a day or two. And finally she did notice and it and ⁓ you know I just kind of sheepishly said, well, you know, it's a good addition to the Van Cave. And you know, it's not like I'm gonna try to bring it up into the living room or, you know, into the you know dining room or something to where a guest you know it's kind of quarantine down here. And and so she, you know, ⁓ reaction wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. She was she was much more understanding than I ever would have imagined. So appreciated that. But ⁓ but my friend was ⁓ he was he was nervous for my safety, you know, knowing that, you know, somebody put up with a lot as part of the helmets and now I was getting a helmet share. He thought, well this this could be it. This is still this could be this can lead to days to buys. But it didn't, so I was I was fooling in that regard. Yeah, you were really rolling the dice there. I was. I was. I have one helmet. It's just a small little Bruins football helmet. One of those little it's like a toy helmet or something. I need to get a like an OSU helmet. Okay. Yeah, you need so you don't have an OSU helmet? No, I need to get one. How much can I expect to pay for just ⁓ you know just an average, you know, ballpark give me a ballpark figure, what I can anticipate paying. For for an OSU? I mean you might be able to get it for a hundred and twenty five, one hundred and fifty or something like that off the e pack. You know, if you got a replica, ⁓ maybe even less. So I don't think it'd be too bad. And they have a lot of cool designs, you know. I've seen the OSU with the pistol feed, you know, they had you know OSU's been really creative with some of their helmet designants. So I think you can find a pretty cool one for for a decent price. I think you could proudly display. Yeah. So there's a so I okay, you said red people will make do you buy the helmets that are actually used by these players or trying to think if I have game used helmet. I don't know that I think with game used. You know, most of mine are authentics as opposed to replicas, but you can buy either one, depending on what your preference is. Okay. And really the biggest difference between authentic and a replica is the padding. I mean, you can look inside a helmet and see, okay, well that's an authentic because the padding is the way it should be, be it for a seventies era or eighties or nineties or present day, ⁓ or look inside and it's more of a ⁓ just kind of a cheap phone for the replica. The shell itself is generally about the same as what you would see for a regular helmet. But it's the padding that that usually is the indicator of whether it's it's authentic or replica. Unless you you know unless you were planning to wear the helmet or something or ⁓ you just did replica and you're good. Yeah. I've heard that ⁓ they have new technology for helmets to help prevent concussions and stuff like that. Is that right? They definitely got better. When you know, when you talk about those old seventies, you know, where it was ⁓ what they call suspension building. And it was very little in the way of padding. And ⁓ so that's yeah, that's evolved, you know, greatly. You can see where they're much they offer much more protection these days than they did back in the day. And even going into the eighties and stuff, they had evolved to where the padding was a lot better. So yeah, ⁓ they've I think from a safety standpoint, ⁓ they've certainly got better. And then, you know, from the safety standpoint of football, obviously there have been changes to the rules of the game to to make it more safety. focus to where you're not having to worry here as much about the installing. Is there ⁓ is there a place do you have the these ⁓ helmets ⁓ have you posted pictures of them online where people can look at ⁓ or not? ⁓ I don't think I have. Maybe I need to somehow, you know, put some on ⁓ Facebook or something. You know, I know you've seen them just being there at the same game and I was ⁓ but no I don't I don't think I can. Huh that'd be cool. Yeah. Well you know obviously they're probably probably need to you know shove off a little bit. Yeah, I'm I'm sure Summer would want everyone to see her collection. Of course. Of course. Yeah, that she wasn't her best wife. And ⁓ you're so magnanimous to let her ⁓ collect these helmets like that. I try to be a giver. Yeah. Yeah. Like you know, like I tell her, I'm not sure what she did in a previous life to deserve all this, but obviously it was really, really good. Well, Dave, always good to talk to you. Hey, always great talking with you, Scott. You know, like Sydney, you're welcome to the main cave anytime and we do ⁓ lunch pants. Good. I wanna see this chair. Yeah. It's like I said, it's ⁓ as ugly as it is, it's much more comfortable. Yeah, you'll have to send me a picture of that one for sure. Absolutely. Again, well, you know, a a showpiece for someone. For throne. It is. It is, no question. Yes. Every queen needs a throne. Yes. Yeah. Well, for David Austin. Thanks for joining us, Dave. It's been it's been fun. Stood again sometime. Hey, that sounds c good, Scott. Any time, always break talking with you. Well, so for David Austin, this is Scott. Thanks for listening to the Scott Townsend Show. Have a great day. Everything's gonna be alright. And we'll talk to you later. For more episodes, visit the Scott Townsend Show YouTube channel, listen on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.