Your club wouldn’t do this for you – unless your club were DCFC: Detroit City Football Club.
To really understand this journey, you’d have to understand the helmets. I wrote a missive about the helmets sometime back in 2018 or so, and since I already bothered to write it, how about I just cut and past an excerpt from that here:
In 2014, I built my first DCFC helmet at the suggestion of John Kersey (aka JPK), and so all credit where credit is due: I might be famous-ish for my helmets, but the whole thing was JPK’s idea. The concept grew out of our war horns, which we started bringing in 2013. John had the idea to start a “horns crew,” which I think we thought might wind up being a proper brass band…but that never really caught on. Instead, in 2014, John and I both showed up with DCFC-themed helmets bedecked with devilish horn
In total, I built 5 helmets to demonstrate my support for DCFC. They were all absolute labors of love, and the result of more than a little blood, sweat, and tears (yes literals of all, though the tears may have been mostly due to superglue fumes). They became a sort of “thing” I was known for – I was “the helmet guy,” and as a result I am featured in more than a few DCFC promotional artifacts ranging from quick video cameos to a front-page photo in the Detroit Free Press.
When it came time to move to Miami I parted with the helmets. It was not an easy decision, and I was prepared to move them down with me, but at the suggestion of a good friend, I offered the helmets to the club as decoration for the then-fledgling (and visually austere) Fieldhouse & Clubhouse. The front office gleefully accepted, and so I parted with my helmets.
Over the next two years, I saw photos of the clubhouse (thanks to friends who were quick to alert me to the presence of my helmets among the trophies & club paraphernalia behind the bar). However, only three were on display. I was very happy that my gear was contributing to club culture…but what about the other two?
Well I’m happy to report that I wrote, I asked, and…they sent! There simply wasn’t room for the other two helmets which, additionally, were more than a little banged up. It’s a rough life, being a helmet…I guess…and so one had a broken horn and the other was missing its iconic hood ornament. The others, all in better shape, will remain as the missing two are now here, next to me as I write this, in Miami!
Perhaps it’s inappropriate to single someone out by name (for the sake of their own privacy), but I am so moved by the front office’s actions here – so invigorated by getting these delightful old war horses back, that I want to name my contact at DCFC and thank him: Kevin Brehmer – thank you! This, as the kids used to say, is huge. My cup runneth over.
Here in Miami, I’m far from home, far from friends and family, and far from Keyworth stadium (home of DCFC for the unfamiliar). The return of these helmets brought everything closer. This is DCFC – this is what it means to support for an amazing club that recognizes and loves its people.
Vytautas Malesh 