Mahtomedi High School opened the fall of 1930, and was originally referred to as Lincolntown of Mahtomedi High School. The mascot was the Violets (a flower) and the original school colors were purple and yellow. Sometime around the late 1930’s, the current Zephyr was adopted. Similarly, the Lincolntown name was also dropped, resulting in the Mahtomedi Zephyrs. However, the original school colors did remain purple and yellow until 1954.

According to legend, former football coach George Smith complained privately that his players “looked like a bunch of Easter eggs” on the field. When it was time for new football jerseys, he took it upon himself to shake things up. When the football team took the field in 1954, they were sporting a new look of navy and yellow. 

Coach Smith also implemented a way to motivate his players and promote off season training. From the years 1978-1993, Mahtomedi players were all issued a solid navy helmet with a yellow stripe down the middle (b). Players could earn additional helmet decals as a reward for performance. If a player was able to bench press 200 pounds or more, they got to wear that number on the right side of their helmet (c).  Additionally, if a player ran the forty yard dash in five seconds or less, they earned a Zephyr decal on the left side of their helmet (d). It was rare that any two players on a given team had the exact same helmet presentation.

Click here to read more about the history of Mahtomedi football.