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Michael Dryer wins Helmet Tracker Scholarship

June 11, 2017 By Jeff Zogg

Helmet Tracker announces that Michael Dryer is our first Athletic Equipment Manager’s Association Certification Exam Scholarship winner.

“We are proud to be associated with the AEMA,” said Helmet Tracker co-founder Rich Hardt. “We believe in Equipment Management as a profession and we are glad to award this scholarship to Michael.”

Michael, an equipment manager for the University of Nevada when he took the 2017 exam at the AEMA Convention in Atlanta last month, is one of 65 equipment managers who passed the exam of the 91 who sat for it.

Michael Dryer, now a Florida International University Assistant Equipment Manager, is the 2017 winner of Helmet Tracker's AEMA Certification Exam Scholarship.

“I’m excited to win this scholarship,” Michael said. “I am grateful to Nevada for making it possible for me to go to AEMA and take the test.”

After six months with Nevada, Michael started a new, full-time job as an Assistant Equipment Manager at Florida International University under Andrew Stern, Head Equipment Manager for Football, who also moved from Nevada.

“FIU hired Coach Butch Davis last spring and he’s a great coach and working for him everything is going good,” Michael said. “We are working long hours to make the equipment room ours and the way we want it.”

Helmet Tracker co-founder Rick Perkins said 10 aspiring equipment managers initially qualified for the scholarship. “We are impressed by the applicants and wish each of them success,” he said. The scholarship reimburses the exam fee and testing materials.

Exam Takes Effort to Pass

This week, AEMA Office Manager Sam Trusner randomly picked Michael’s name out of a helmet containing the names of the scholarship applicants qualified by Helmet Tracker.

“It takes effort to pass the certification exam,” Sam told Helmet Tracker at the AEMA national offices in Illinois. “It’s not rocket science, but you have to study for it to pass.”

AEMA Office Manager Sam Trusner picks the name of the 2017 Helmet Tracker AEMA Certification Exam Scholarship winner out of an Illini helmet at the AEMA offices in Illinois Tuesday, July 11, 2017.

The mean score this year was a 74, accounting for the testing adjustment. A score of 70 passes.

“Usually about 30 percent fail and it was no different this year,” Sam said.

Michael said he took it seriously and studied hard for the exam. In the end, it was worth it.

“I spent a lot of time studying for the test. I wanted to pass it so bad,” he said. “Now that I am certified, I can say it—I am a certified equipment manager! I am a professional.”

To read Michael’s story, please visit http://helmettracker.com/meet-michael-dryer-equipment-manager/

To apply for the 2018 Helmet Tracker Scholarship, please visit http://helmettracker.com/aema-scholarship/

Meet Equipment Manager Eddie Hardin

May 29, 2017 By Kellye

Just down the road from the Athletic Equipment Managers Association 2017 convention in Atlanta, Eddie Hardin puts his education and experience to work at Georgia State University. “I am an assistant equipment manager for football and Olympic sports,” he tells Helmet Tracker. “It’s an internship, but I’m looking for full-time work as an equipment manager.”

At the convention, Eddie will take the next step as he sits for the AEMA Certification Exam. “I’ve been able to get experience at ordering, working with vendors, working with athletes, apparel, equipment and other needs.”

Football Equipment Room Beginnings

He began his career at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he served as a student manager for four years. Along the way, he interned for the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Eddie played football at Sumiton Christian High School outside of Birmingham where he also ran cross country. He likes being close to home, so when it came time to further his education, he went to UAB down the road where he planned to walk onto the football team.

Financial situations derailed the plan, but lead him to apply to work with the team as a student manager.

“Being able to be part of the team, part of the team culture, is important to me. Even if it’s just to have a minimal impact, I sure enjoy being a part of something bigger than myself. I like being part of the team,” Eddie says.

His degree in Foreign Languages and Cultures was initially to help him get into law school and maybe launch a career in international law. But the economic impact of additional school loans for further study caused him to think long and hard about the trajectory of life.

“I just wasn’t comfortable as I thought about the financial trap that it could have been,” he says. “I found I enjoyed dealing with sports equipment rather than seeking after the so-called success of being a lawyer,” he says. “I wanted to do something I loved rather than chase after the potential of making a lot of money.”

He often thinks of that first game.

UAB played the University of Florida, and he was on the sidelines of this, a Southeastern Conference school. A powerhouse. It was surreal, and he was a part of it—even if it just mean scrubbing footballs, setting up the locker room, doing some laundry. Then he learned to set up practice fields, game fields, maintain helmets and shoulder pads, do the laundry, pack trunks for game days, and everything else it takes to put a team on the field.

With a stop with the Bucs, he soon worked his way to graduation 2015 and an internship at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. He ended up with the Falcons as they began their 2016 march to the Super Bowl, then took the job at Georgia State.

“Edward was working with the Atlanta Falcons when I was looking for an intern after my Assistant Equipment Manager for Olympic Sports left the first week of football season,” writes Nicholas Vogt, Head Equipment Manager at Georgia State. “When his internship with the Falcons was up he came to Georgia State and was thrown right into the fire. He came to work mostly football, but we needed him to work with the Olympic Sports.,” Vogt writes.

“I could not have been happier to have him part of the Equipment Staff.”

Someday, Eddie hopes to have his own staff.

Dream Equipment Manager Job

“Ten years from now my dream job is to be a head equipment manager at UAB or, well, be an equipment manager for the Seattle Seahawks,” he says.

In the meantime, he studies for the exam, just a week away now, and picks up some extra cash driving for Uber. “I get to meet interesting people along the way. I do it because it helps to pay the bills and I get to meet different people and hear their stories.”

When he isn’t driving or working with the Panthers, he is hanging out with friends and family, and learning to play guitar. “I’m working my way into jazz.”

Eddie admits to shyness as a youngster, which lead to a certain amount of bullying and difficulty relating to people. It’s the job with the teams that he points to as a turning point.

“This job has helped me come out of my comfort zone and relate to people. It’s been good for my self-confidence.”

Meet Equipment Manager Alanna Widman

May 15, 2017 By Jeff Zogg

That wariness she notices from football players when they encounter their first female equipment manager dissipates quickly when they learn something about her.

“When they start talking to me they quickly realize I know football,” says Alanna Widman, who served with the Tiffin University Equipment team for four years. “That helps a lot.”

She grew up not far from the Tiffin campus, attended Calvert High School where she played softball for a time but found she liked the supporting role better.

“I realized I really didn’t like softball, so I decided to just help them,” she told Helmet Tracker. “I enjoyed that more than playing.”

Alanna liked being part of the team, being around the players, and around sports. She served the volleyball, basketball, and softball teams in high school, then went across town to Tiffin.

“Dad told me to find a job,” she said. “I got an email from the football department and they needed help.”

Laundry, Face Masks, and Nike

Soon she was learning more about football—and more.

“Some of her job duties include doing seven loads of laundry a day, setting up the fields with all the football equipment, filming practice, fixing helmet bladders, face masks, and chin straps, organizing the equipment room, inventory of all equipment, registration for camps, ordering of football gear through Nike, and much more,” writes Adam Neugebauer, Tiffin’s Offensive Coordinator and Head Equipment Manager.

“Alanna makes my job so much easier. I know that if I give her a task, the task will be done right away. Most times I do not even have to ask her to do something because she has the job done already.”

Neugebauer’s reliance on her spread to other staff and players.

“They never had a female in that position before, it was a learning experience for everyone,” she remembers. “I was the only female with the guys at practice. It was different. The atmosphere is different. What helped me is I know a lot about football—my Dad is a football coach.”

Players and Staff Trust Her

The players learned quickly to trust her, and to call on her for help. Soon, during games, players would start calling her name as they ran from the field with an equipment problem.

“This was my dream job even before I knew it was what I wanted,” Alanna says. “I want to do what I am doing now—in football.”

She’s always been around the game, around sports. She has two brothers and attended all their games. Then, she was part of it herself.

“Suddenly I had 150 brothers,” she said.

Alanna will take the Equipment Manager’s certification exam at the Athletic Equipment Managers Association national convention in Atlanta next month. She is a candidate for Helmet Tracker’s AEMA Scholarship.

She has graduated with a degree in Sports Recreation Management and is looking for a job in an Equipment Room. As far as being a female in a male dominated arena, she says it’s a non-issue.

“I’m just there to do the job I love,” she says. “I want to see the athletes excel in what they do.”

She follows the nearby Cleveland teams—the Indians, the Browns, and the Cavaliers, plus the Miami Dolphins.

Division I Dreams

“I want to work for a DI school in the Big 10 or another major conference, or at the NFL level,” she admits.

Neugebauer knows she will be an asset to any team she works with, and the other staff as well.

“Her drive and motivation is contagious. She makes others around her work even harder. Since she has been working for our football team, she has recruited and brought on five other managers,” he wrote.

When she isn’t working or looking for work in sports, she is hanging out with her family—and that usually involves sports as well.

“I’m okay with that because I love it.”

Meet Max Drexler-Grand Canyon U Equipment Manager

May 8, 2017 By Jeff Zogg

Max Drexler lives in a parallel universe. As the Grand Canyon University campus where he works undergoes transformation and growth for the future, so does Max.

“I moved to Arizona from Rochester, NY about a year ago,” Max says. “I have never been out this far west.”

Grand Canyon University

GCU, in Phoenix, plans to build or update 10 facilities in two years. During that time of growth, Max plans to earn his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and land a job in sports.

“This place is blowing up quickly,” he said. “It’s a good place to be.”

AEMA Exam

Max was granted a graduate assistantship and a job at Grand Canyon University in January 2016. In June, he will take the Athletic Equipment Management Association’s certification exam. He is a candidate for Helmet Tracker’s AEMA certification exam Scholarship.

“We technically work 29 hours a week, but I am here 9 to 5 every day and on the weekends we are busy, too,” he said. His main focus is men’s soccer, women’s basketball, and men’s volleyball. He reports to Mark Wilty, Assistant Athletic Director—Equipment.

“I rely on Max to handle much of the day to day tasks that are crucial to our overall success,” Mark writes. “Recording inventory, inputting orders, handling embellishment, distributing gear, and handling team laundry are everyday duties that Max has mastered here at GCU.”

Update New York Link

Max played four years of soccer as a Spartan at Greece Olympia High School, then four years at SUNY (State University of New York) Brockport where he earned his sports management degree.

“At DIII we didn’t have an equipment staff, really. I didn’t experience it,” he said. “My goal now is to find an entry-level position in Athletics,” he says.

“I want to work in athletics, but I don’t necessarily know where yet. I like the equipment room, but I also like the business side of athletics as well.”

His studies and his work in the equipment room and on the field keeps him busy for now.

“Right now we are super busy with baseball and softball going, and with the construction, we are working with one washer and one dryer.”

“So, in the future, I will stay open to possibilities and keep grinding,” Max says. “I’ll take every opportunity I can.”

Who is the Helmet Stalker?

May 5, 2017 By Jeff Zogg

The Anonymous Helmet Stalker

He knows when a player switches facemasks.

He knows when a team puts a sticker on the back of a helmet.

He knows when Madden gets it right.

He is the Helmet Stalker.

“For me, it’s a creative outlet. I try to get the information out with an unbiased approach,” he tells Helmet Tracker.

And he is getting the information out. The Helmet Stalker has nearly 6,000 Twitter followers and an astounding 41,000 Instagram followers. “Covering helmet changes and designs of the big name guys, the kickers, and everybody in between,” is his profile.

Who Is He?

But who is the Helmet Stalker?

We went to find out and learned a bit about him, but chief among his objectives is anonymity.

“I am anonymous on the page,” he told us. “I don’t feel I need to come out as me. I want to stay objective and have Helmet Stalker be fact-based. If I show anything personal, that changes. I have shared some of my own helmet collection, but I don’t need to do that.”

A recent post on Instagram: “Raiders RB Marshawn Lynch was fitted for his Schutt Air XP, with a tinted Under Armour visor. He used a K-Gold SHOC visor while last with Seattle.” More than a dozen comments followed, discussing the rules for visors, the importance of chin straps, and more.

A Chocolate Lab hovers in the kitchen. The dog’s name reminds you of a television character who had his own spinoff from a TV blockbuster show from the 1970s. The Helmet Stalker explains how he got his start.

“Really, I suppose it started when I played Madden as a kid.”

The Helmet Stalker first played on-field football in Pop Warner where he was, during his first year, the self-proclaimed “one of the worst players on the field.” The next year he won an award (and not just that participation trophy) and became a lineman. He continued to improve. When he was a sophomore in high school, he broke his arm and when he returned to the field he became a receiver and long snapper.

Obsessive Knowledge about Helmets

Upon graduating, his football career was over and his on-line career was born.

“This kind of knowledge—about helmets and such—I guess I’ve just always had,” he says. “Now I am very obsessive about knowledge of helmets. My mind works like this: I generally read or see something once and then I know it. I can be watching TV and notice something about a player’s helmet and remember that it was different a week ago.”

He noticed on August 14, 2015 that the Baltimore Ravens’ helmets had a gouge guard then explained: “Gouge guards are thick clear stickers put on the front of the helmet to protect it from scuffs and scratches.”

He posted a couple of photos in 2012, then picked it up again in the summer of 2013. He posted about six images a day, then it took off. One of his few followers was a supplier to the NFL and encouraged him to focus on Instagram. There, he was referenced by some people in the know and word began to spread.

“I got some attention from Schutt, then Xenith and Riddell,” he said. Soon his hundreds of followers were thousands, then tens of thousands.

“Now I do have some insider info. I have relationships with some of the guys, some of the equipment guys and suppliers,” the Helmet Stalker says. “I get no money from any of it. I am not biased.”

When a player switches helmets, for example, the Helmet Stalker is one of the first outsiders to know about it. He doesn’t make a judgment on the switch, just points it out—what the player wore last week, what the player is wearing this week.

“Colts TE Coby Fleener was wearing a Riddell Speedflex at mini camps, he had worn the sweet Riddell 360 with a custom mask last season” he posted on July 4, 2014.

He says he is obsessive about helmet knowledge, but not about watching football. He watches on Sundays and tries to keep up a bit during the offseason.

“I am watching during football season—usually. With my extremely weird attention to detail, I will notice if one specific player has a visor come unhooked or something like that, so I scour the internet for an image and post.”

Madden Advisor

The Helmet Stalker is into video games and his knowledge has cracked opened at least one door.

“I do help some with Madden every year. I offer a third party perspective—I am an advisor of sorts to a specific person there who is about the equipment. I help with equipment and roster updates.”

He downplays his role with the video game saying he is just a friend helping out a friend.

“I try to help them keep the game and the players as authentic as possible.”

It’s fun, he says, and he does it out of his own free will (his words).

Teams throughout the NFL today will be wearing ribbon decals in honor of the 15 year anniversary of the attacks on 9/11,” he wrote on September 11, 2016 with five pictures. The Helmet Stalker is too young to clearly remember that day.

The Helmet Stalker has a full-time job, outside of sports, that keeps him busy. He has one sister and lives in a place that sees snow every year, is not particularly a football area (basketball and lacrosse are as big there), and has celebrated at least one NCAA basketball championship in the last 20 years. Down the road, you can get the best hot dogs on the planet.

Other than that, he isn’t forthcoming. It’s not that he is unfriendly. On the contrary, the Helmet Tracker found the Helmet Stalker to be kind, amenable, disposed. He enjoys the creativity of Helmet Stalker, the freedom anonymity offers and sharing his eye for detail.

“I feel like I am so unique, mostly because I am not competitive. I keep things factual,” he tells us.

The Future of Helmet Stalker

“It would be cool if it could turn into something,” he admits. “Since I was a kid I wanted to be an equipment manager.”

Other careers he’d like to pursue include working public relations or marketing for a helmet manufacturer, or for an NFL team.

“For now, I enjoy doing this. Helmet Stalker is fun and keeps me engaged with football.”