Helmet sticker - wikipedia Helmet sticker Helmet with paw print stickers ( O'Fallon Panthers, Illinois High School Association, 2008 ) Helmet stickers, also known as reward decals and pride stickers, are stickers that are affixed to a high school or college football player 's helmet. They can denote either individual or team accomplishments. Contents 1 History 2 Current usage 2.1 Division I 2.1. 1 FBS 2.1. 2 FCS 3 Discontinued usage 4 References History ESPN says the practice of awarding helmet stickers is often wrongly credited to Ernie Biggs, also a trainer at Ohio State under legendary coach Woody Hayes. They instead claim that the practice of awarding stickers began with Jim Young, former assistant coach at Miami in 1965, two years before they were used by the Buckeyes. An even earlier attribution is given to Gene Stauber, freshman coach at Nebraska ( 1955 -- 1957 ) by head coach Pete Elliott. Stauber routinely used stickers throughout his tenure as assistant coach at Illinois ( 1960 -- 1970 ), as a 1962 photo of All - American linebacker Dick Butkus indicates. The stickers stem from fighter pilots marking their planes with stickers after kills and / or successful missions. Michael Pellowski, in his book `` Rutgers Football : A Gridiron Tradition in Scarlet, '' credits Rutgers defensive backs coach Dewey King with being `` one of the first '' to award decals for helmets in 1961. The stickers were given for interceptions only so they were more difficult to earn. Every time there was an interception, the crowd yelled `` give him the star. '' The stars can be seen in this photo of the 1961 team walking from the locker room to the field prior to the season finale against Columbia. Current usage Division I FBS Arkansas : Hog Head logo Clemson : Paw Print Colorado State : Ram Horn Duke : Grim Reaper ( only for defensive players ) Florida State : Tomahawk ( tomahawks given for academic achievements have `` ACADEMIC '' written up the handle of the tomahawk ) Georgia : White Bone ( game ) / Black Bone ( academic ) Iowa State : Cy Hawk Louisiana Lafayette : Fleur - de-lis / Gold Fleur - de-lis Miami : Green hurricane / Orange hurricane Michigan : Football with a wolverine Michigan State : White Block `` S '' / Javelin Mississippi State : Dog Bone New Mexico Northwestern : Wildcat ( only for team wins ) Notre Dame : Shamrock ( Practice only ) Ohio State : Buckeye Tree leaf Rice : Owl Stanford : Axe Blade West Virginia : Musket FCS Alabama A&M Florida A&M : Snake Heads Fordham University : Ram Head Illinois State : Reggie Redbird North Carolina A&T Youngstown State : White Star New Hampshire Butler : Dog Bone South Dakota State Discontinued usage Air Force : Lighting Bolt Appalachian State : Yosef Arizona : Wildcat Paw Arkansas State : `` I Will '' Baylor : Green Star Bowling Green : `` BG '' logo BYU : Gold Cougar ( Personal Goals ) and Blue Cougar ( Team Goals, Wins ) / `` HC '' ( used only on throwback helmets ) California : Football ( football with big C and `` WIN '' on it, Growling Bear head ( ' 70s ) ) Central Michigan : Yellow Block C Cincinnati Colorado : Buffalo East Carolina : Skull Pirate Logo Florida Atlantic Fresno State : White Bone, Yellow Bone, and Black Bone Georgia State : Panther, a block `` M '' ( standing for magnanimatas, or `` greatness of spirit '' in Latin ), and a gold star for academics University of Hawaii : Warrior helmet and cross spears Houston : White Paw Indiana Kentucky : White Wildcat Paw / Blue Wildcat Paw ( only on white helmets ) Louisville : Cardinal Louisiana Monroe : Maroon Star / Warhawk Talon Marshall : Green Horn Maryland : Red Turtle and Yellow Turtle Memphis : Tiger Paw Miami ( Ohio ) : Star / Tomahawk Middle Tennessee State : Pegasus Missouri : Tiger Paw North Carolina State : Wolf Fang New Mexico State : Aggie `` A '' Nevada : Axe North Carolina : Tar Heel Northern Illinois : White Bone Rutgers : Silver Star / Sword San Jose State Southern Miss : Eagle South Carolina : Gamecock foot with spur South Florida : Green Bull Logo Temple : Diamond Tennessee Texas Tech : Red Star Toledo : White Rocket / Yellow Rocket Tulane : Fleur - de-lis Tulsa : Skull and Crossbones UConn : Huskie / `` C '' logo UCLA : Blue Bear Paw Utah : Utes logo Utah State : Block letter ' A ' / Bull Vanderbilt : Ship Anchor ( only on gold helmets ) Western Kentucky : `` WKU '' Red Towel logo Western Michigan : Crossed Oars ( used only during the 2013 -- 16 tenure of P.J. Fleck as head coach ) Wyoming : Small Bucking Horse References ^ Jump up to : `` Helmet Stickers ''. ESPN.com. Retrieved 29 November 2014. Jump up ^ http://www.huskermax.com/interviews/Pete_Elliott.html Jump up ^ http://www.fanbase.com/photo/1145757 Jump up ^ Rabjohns, Jeff ( 2006 - 10 - 26 ). `` Helmet stickers reward college football players ' superior performance ''. USA Today. Retrieved 2010 - 02 - 17. Jump up ^ Sargeant, Keith ( 2014 - 11 - 14 ). `` Rutgers football 1961 : ' The greatest team, the greatest season, and the greatest coach that any college ever had ' ''. NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. Retrieved 2016 - 05 - 05. Jump up ^ `` prideofhawaiisports.com ''. Jump up ^ `` Southwest Conference Helmet History ''. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Helmet_sticker&oldid=812072164 '' Categories : American football equipment College football in the United States High school football in the United States Stickers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 25 November 2017, at 20 : 56. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: why do college football players have stickers on their helmet
Answer: denote either individual or team accomplishments