SAN JOSE, Calif. - San José State's 'City of San Jose' helmet was voted on by fans as the Helmet Bowl National Champion on HelmetTracker.com. The Spartans wore the black helmet in their 34-6 victory over Western Michigan on Sept. 24 as SJSU defeated teams like Kansas, BYU and Memphis along the way to being crowned national champions.
The black uniforms and helmets were featured on ESPN College Gameday during their 'Gear Up' segment. This is the second consecutive year that the Spartans were featured on the most watched College Gameday program in the country.
San José, this ones' for you.@sanjosestatefb x @CityofSanJose #ClimbTheMountain | #AllSpartans pic.twitter.com/ySe2Wd0KA6
— San José State Football (@SanJoseStateFB) September 12, 2022
"Winning the Helmet Bowl National Championship is a huge honor," said Assistant Athletics Director for Equipment Services Johnathan Hankinson. "We went up against some very tough competition on our run to the championship, but to see all of the support from the San Jose community, our university, alumni, friends, and family to continually vote for our helmet over the last two months has been amazing! We are very proud and grateful to win this award!"
Hankinson came up with the design trying to combine elements of the City of San Jose while incorporating elements of San José State branding. He was able to accomplish this by using the "SJ" logo on one side (for San Jose), a chrome Spartan head on the other side of the helmet (for San José State) and placing the 408 area code on the front bumper while using the SJSU spear logo running down the center of the helmet. He also used a chrome blue facemask on the helmet which really popped with the black.
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