The Dec. 10, 2021 tornado that ravaged Mayfield, KY forced relocation for meetings of the Red Helmet Club.
Just like so many other things in Mayfield, the Red Helmet Club was affected by the tornado.
The Red Helmet Club met in Rita’s Cafe, which was located on the main floor of the Hall Hotel. Hall Hotel is located across the street from the Graves County Courthouse.
“Rita’s Cafe is no more,” said Brad Morris, a pastor at First Assembly of God and member of the Red Helmet Club.
The Red Helmet Club relocated to another restaurant in Mayfield. This restaurant is Ron’s Longhorn Restaurant.
At Ron’s Longhorn Restaurant, the Red Helmet Club has its own room in the back of the restaurant that is fully decorated with Mayfield Cardinal pictures and other decorations.
Both Sims and Morris have been involved in tornado relief in their own ways.
“I have been involved with the tornado through all these damages,” Doug Sims, local property and casualty insurance agent and member of the Red Helmet Club said. “We insure a whole bunch of it, I’d say a couple hundred-million dollars going through our companies.”
“The tornado hit Dec. 10, Dec. 11 Samaritan’s Purse showed up at my church and we have been hosting Samaritan’s Purse,” Morris said.
The residents of Mayfield simply love football because of how successful the Mayfield High School football team has been. Their love for football led to the creation of the Red Helmet Club, a meeting held between locals where they meet for breakfast to discuss Mayfield High School Cardinal football. The members have been meeting for over 10 years.
“It started off with just some fans getting together to talk about Mayfield Cardinal varsity football,” Sims said. “It just spun up from there. Meetings started around when we started going to all the state championships in a row.”
There are 10 to 20 members in the Red Helmet Club.
“It’s not huge,” Sims said. “The brain trust there is huge. These guys know a lot, and I learn a lot. I know a lot from about 2009 on, but there are some guys that haven’t missed a game since before they got married, and they are in their 70s now.”
The Red Helmet Club has expanded since the meetings initially started. Sims, Morris and Jason Burkeen, a former Mayfield Cardinal football player and member of the Red Helmet club, started Red Helmet Video.
For Red Helmet Video, Sims, Morris and Burkeen stream every game that they can on YouTube for people who cannot attend the game to watch live.
Red Helmet Video was started during the pandemic when the Cardinals were still playing, but there was limited seating due to the restrictions.
“During COVID, Brad [Morris] said, ‘Hey Jason, since COVID hit, and nobody can go to the games, do you want to try to do some video?’,’” Burkeen said. “Doug [Sims] is the tech guy, and me and Brad commentate.”
Red Helmet Video started on Facebook Live but has recently migrated to streaming on YouTube.
“In Mayfield on Friday nights, everybody goes to the games,” Burkeen said. “That’s just how it is. Now people that have grown up and left the area are on Red Helmet Video every Friday night watching the games.”
The Red Helmet Club and Video both strive to help the football program.
“We’re fans but supporting the program is the main deal,” Sims said.
“We did a kickoff dinner,” Burkeen said. “Red Helmet Video sponsored that event this year and we gave $1,000 back to the football program.”
The Red Helmet Club also has a Player of the Week for defense and offense that the members nominate at their morning breakfasts. They give T-shirts to the two players of the week, and a photo of the players are featured in the Mayfield Messenger’s sports section as the Red Helmet Club Players of the Week.
It is no surprise the Mayfield Cardinals have such a loyal fanbase. The Cardinals are a historic program — not just in-state but nationally.
The Cardinals rank third in wins in the nation at any level of high school football.
The Cardinals are 12-time state champions. The most recent state championship victory was in 2015.
With the Cardinals currently 7-0, the team is well on its way to competing for another state championship, which should give the Red Helmet Club plenty to talk about.
