Football Helmets

Maybe I'm way off with my thinking but, why don't they make the outside of football helmets out of a softer material? It seems like the hard *** plastic would vibrate more and cause more head injuries. Wouldn't a layer of softer material on the outside absorb some of that shock? Could it prevent some of these concussions that we see in every game?

 

You would see too many broken necks. The softer material would tend to hold or grip.

 

I was thinking this when I was reading about welkers helmet....his is more guts than anything else but the main idea is to reduce risk of concussion.....I understand they are very expensive but you would think everyone would be required to wear one of those....anyway...as far as materials im not sure what would be durable enough for the outside to absorb the shock yet hold up to the contact.....interesting thought

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I saw a show about a guy who has spent the past several years developing a safer football helmet based on what is used in auto racing rather than the traditional style. He claims the current NFL helmets are way behind as far as technology compared to racing.

 

Very interesting. Makes a lot of sense.

 

Maybe a flexible firm rubber shell?


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I know a lot of times in football and other sports, knockouts and concussions result from a violent twist of one's neck, ie a boxer getting clipped on his chin. No material in a football helmet can prevent one's neck from being twisted.

 

Why not take the helmets away and guys will start tackling the proper way? Or maybe that's just the rugby player in me talkiing.

 

I have thought about this lately, and my thought is that they could change the entire system of pads and helmet. I was thinking the pads could be changed from hard plastic to a gel w. a reinforced semi-flexible backbone. The helmet could be some type of material, similar to memory foam on the outside and a semi-flexible inner shell. Most concussions are caused by the brain sloshing around inside the skull. if the helmet could absorb alot of the energy from a hit, or the head hitting the ground, that would lessen the amount of movement of the brain inside the skull.

 

Very similar to what my feable brain has thought would make sense as well.

 

This is what I was thinking

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That makes sense for sure.

 

But it would also stop players from tackling head first!

 

They have a padded shell that they can put around a helmet that is supposed to help reduce the risk of a concussion.

 

They should go back to leather helmets.

 

How about soft on the outside and hard on the inside?

The better the equipment gets, the more the players think they can run full-speed into a brick wall.

 

I can only assume these helmets are highly engineered, especially given the amount of exposure this has. There are actually a few different companies that make helmets and the player is free to choose whichever one he wants (not dictated by sponsorships).

This would be different than auto racing though. There, the helmet is secured and if you crash, your head doesn't take a blow (maybe your neck), but the goal for them is to restrict the body from moving or only very slightly. If their head bounces off the dash, then that would be more of a compaison.

I do agree I think there needs to be more done on the helmets, but I find it hard to believe that there aren't some very smart people who have their lives dedicated to designing safer ones.