1947 – 1955
Michigan State Football
Jersey & Helmet Style

Green helmets with a one-inch white center stripe. Three stripes on the jerseys and one down the pants.

Helmet

Before the second game of the 1947 season (Kentucky), Biggie Munn presented to each player a new, Riddell plastic suspension helmet with a kelly green shell and a white one-inch center stripe. Either superstition over the blowout loss at Michigan or just a morale booster, the new plastic helmets were a huge hit with players and fans. These helmets remain today as a virtual base design for all helmet styles.

Biggie Munn’s helmet design would don the rest of his career and continue through the 1955 season with the exception of two games in 1954 (Wisconsin and Indiana).

  • Kelly green Riddell plastic suspension helmet
  • White one-inch white center stripe
  • No face mask


Jersey

  • Solid color player numerals on front
  • Three stripes: one-inch white center stripe, one-inch between half-inch white striping
  • No player last names on the back above the player numerals
  • Solid color player numerals on back


Pants

  • White pants
  • One stripe: one-inch green striping
  • Same pants used for home and away games


1954 Mid-Season Changes

For the Michigan State vs. Wisconsin game on October 2, 1954 (6 – 0 Loss) and Michigan State vs. Purdue game on October 23, 1954 (27 – 13 Loss), Michigan State wore white helmets with a kelly green one-inch center stripe. For more information, visit the 1954 Jersey and Helmet Style page.

For the Michigan State vs. Marquette game on November 20, 1954 (40 – 10 Win), Michigan State wore green pants with green jerseys for the last game of the season.

Information Credits: Helmet Hut and The Tradition Continues – Spartan Football. Spartan Jerseys claims no ownership to this information.
Photography Credits: Masthead is courtesy of The Tradition Continues – Spartan Football. Images of 1947 – 1955 helmet, 1947 – 1955 jersey and 1947 – 1955 pants are courtesy of Michigan State University Archives & Historical Collections. Image of 1954 green pants vs. Marquette is courtesy of Marquette Hilltop. Spartan Jerseys claims no ownership to these images.