HOBBY HEADGEAR: Collector fuels pigskin passion with collection of more than 500 football helmets

Jerry Quickel’s large football helmet collection takes up most of his front lawn. Jerry Quickel

Jerry Quickel gravitated toward football helmets early in life.

“I started collecting gum ball helmets as a kid. The gum ball helmets went to Dairy Queen helmets. I’ve always been infatuated with helmets,” laughed Quickel.

Now 58, the helmet passion continues as strong as ever. Quickel has 531 full-size football helmets as of mid-September 2023, primarily college helmets from both major and small schools.

At the time he was interviewed for this article, Quickel was on a business trip in Memphis, where he found time to visit Rhodes College and the University of Memphis. He brought home a new helmet from each to add to his collection.

But more important than the two new helmets are the relationships he made with the athletics staff at both schools. Quickel loves college football people, from athletic directors to student equipment managers and everyone in between.

“For me, and for a lot of collectors of game stuff, it’s more about meeting the people and feeling like you are part of it [rather] than a number,” he said. “I could go through every single one of my helmets and tell you who gave that to me, and the story about how I got it.”

Jerry Quickel, shown here with one of his favorite helmets (left), keeps his collection in his basement man cave (right). Jerry Quickel

It’s not just rhetoric. Those who have met Quickel on his college football helmet journey can attest to his passion not just for helmets but relationships.

“I first met him a few years ago when I was at Valdosta State and sent him a helmet from there for the D2 collection,” said Phillip Chartier, currently head equipment manager at McNeese State University. “He also sent me a thank you for helping with some snacks, and people just don’t do that anymore. He’s always been respectful and understanding and, overall, a great dude to talk to, and I love seeing him post new additions.”

“Jerry comes through as a very genuine person on Twitter [now X], and it's clear that he's on social media for all the 'right' reasons,” added Michael Barker, who has helped grow Quickel’s collection by promoting it during his own extensive college football travels [X: @CFBcampustour]. “Not as a 'look at me' account or bragging in any way, but as someone who's both proud of his collection and interested in connecting with others in the college football community.”

LIFE UPENDS DREAM JOB

Quickel was a sales representative for Riddell early in his working career, selling football equipment to clients, including college football teams.

It was the perfect job for a guy who had helmets in his blood. And it helped him get his football helmet collection off the ground.

“I had some of the other reps from different areas save the rejects for me from these big schools,” he said, referencing Division I college football conferences such as the Big 8 [now Big 12].

But life soon got in the way of his dream job.

“I had to leave the equipment business when I was four years into it because I had two kids and I needed to make more money,” said Quickel, who sold much of his early collection to come up with a down payment on the house he now lives in. “If I could’ve stayed in the business for my whole career, I would have, but I couldn’t.”

Out of the business, Quickel had to take a different approach to continue growing his helmet collection.

Quickel has 26 different helmets from the University of Kansas, his favorite college team. Jerry Quickel

“I can’t spend $500 on these things,” said Quickel, noting that athletic departments have now found a lucrative revenue stream selling or auctioning off game-used equipment, including helmets. “The sheer volume would crush me.”

Quickel started sending letters to schools asking for expired helmets, as football helmets can only be used for 10 years.

He typically offers to make a donation to the school or at least pick up the shipping cost, which generally runs about $15-$30 per helmet.

Quickel has made donations ranging from $25 to $200 in some cases, but “nine times out of 10, they just send it,” he said.

He has figured out who to approach at the schools.

“The larger the school, you’re trying to get hold of the equipment guy because most of the time, the coaches don’t jack around with that stuff,” Quickel said. “When you get to Division 2, Division 3, NAIA, I send my stuff right to the coach. They seem to have their fingers in everything at the lower levels.”

Thanks to a job that includes travel, he tries to visit schools whenever possible, like his recent trip to Memphis.

THE PERFECT STORM

Quickel’s helmet collection — primarily colleges, but also a helmet from each NFL team and 18 of the 19 original USFL teams — had already grown to a few hundred by 2020, but a combination of events over the last three years led to a recent surge.

Another view of the basement man cave. Jerry Quickel

First, there was COVID-19.

“Coaches and equipment guys are some of the busiest on the planet,” Quickel said. “Getting them to respond to you has always been a tough thing to do. If I send out a hundred letters, I may get a response back on two or three of them. When COVID hit, we found a lot of these guys had a lot of time on their hands. They couldn’t go out and recruit. They weren’t playing. They couldn’t go out and practice. They couldn’t do anything.

“During COVID, it really picked up quite a bit for me,” he added.

Then there was social media. For years, Quickel’s modus operandi was either a letter or an in-person visit.

But there is another way, thanks to technology.

“Social media, my daughter taught me,” said Quickel, who has more than 5,500 X followers. “I didn’t have a clue. She helped me a little bit with what to do.”

Finally, there was the urge on a nice July 2022 day to clean his basement where all his helmets are displayed.

“I dust about once a month. But you can only get your basement so clean when you do that,” Quickel recalled. “I was up to 415, 420 or so, and I carried them all out of my basement to my yard to clean them.

“I thought, ‘this would be a good picture.’ I put it on social media,” Quickel said. He also posted a 42-second video panning his collection spread out on his front lawn.

Social media did not disappoint. ESPN sent Quickel a direct message that afternoon confirming the video he took was, in fact, his and asking if they could re-publish it. He answered yes to both.

“Once it hit [ESPN], my phone went nuts,” said Quickel, adding that CBS also re-posted the video. “All of a sudden, guys were asking me if it’d be okay if they sent one because they wanted to be in this collection.”

In the year or so since the front-lawn post, he’s added more than 110 college football helmets and counting. “And it’s all because of social media,” Quickel added.

PROMOTING SMALL SCHOOLS

Quickel did not play college football, although his grandfather, father, and son all played D2 football. “The gene skipped me,” he joked. His son’s college helmet is in his collection.

One of many helmet racks. Jerry Quickel

While his collection initially focused on big schools, Quickel is now just as excited to get a D2, D3, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) or junior college (JUCO) helmet as a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) helmet.

In fact, the D2 Emporia State grad embraces the opportunity to learn about and help promote lower-level college football programs.

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“Anyone who is interested in their program and school, they like to talk about it, especially at the lower levels,” Quickel said. “If you have a genuine interest in it, they love you.”

Take the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) football programs as an example.

“Those schools have played a huge part of football in this country, and not a lot of people know about it. I want to promote that as much as I can,” he said.

Others have taken notice of his promotional efforts.

“One of the aspects of Jerry's collection I enjoy most is how he focuses on all of college football, not just FBS and FCS,” said mini-college football helmet collector and high school teacher Ben Whitehead. “His platform has become a great way to showcase D2, D3, NAIA, and even JUCO schools.”

Space is not an issue (yet).

No interview of a collector with 531 full-size helmets would be complete without asking about where and how he displays them all and what the end game is.

Quickel said his wife of 33 years, Julie, became used to college football equipment being in the house during his days repping for Riddell.

“It was how I made my living when I was younger. I’ve always had samples, bags of shoulder pads and bags of helmets, always had something laying around,” he said.

The only rule is that the helmet collection stays in the basement, and that is where all 531 helmets are on display, from floor to ceiling.

“I’m getting close to having to get creative,” said Quickel, adding that he thinks he can add another 50 to 60 helmets before having to figure out Plan B.

As for an end game, Quickel doesn’t know for sure what it will be. He could donate them to a college or possibly enter into a partnership of some sort with a restaurant that would display them.

For now, he’s having way too much fun to look too far down the road.

“I just like to meet people and do this,” he said. “It’s fun.”