There is obviously a lot of research being done to build a new mouse trap, and/or a safer football helmet.
What is being added to the newer headgear are shock absorbers, and yes, the jury is still working on the verdict.
The well-known company Xenith has been working on the development of their football helmet that has a moving shell around a series of shock absorbers made of rubber that's inflated with air and re-inflates after contact.
Riddell football equipment is probably the most well-known and the number one seller of football gear across the country.
Their helmet is being tested by many high school, college and professional teams nationally.
Riddell calls their helmet the “Speedflex.” It’s their third generation of new headgear in as many years. Thus far, the helmet is only being tested by chosen football programs at all levels. Like the Xenith head protector, the Speedflex has a similar technology with the movement of the shell and shock absorbing protection, which is closest to the head.
The Speedflex, priced at around $400, is a newly adapted head protection and an offspring of the Riddell helmet called the Riddell 360, a $390 item. The Riddell 360 has been on the market for the past two years, so if you do the math, and there are approximately 40 players on the roster of a varsity high school football team, wow that’s expensive! In addition, the new helmets are using a better metal in the face mask, for added protection.
Riddell has turned out three new helmet designs in the past 12 years, each more expensive than the previous design, all for the protection from getting a concussion. And, think about it, money should be no object when it comes to safety in football, but schools have become so stretched out with budgetary cuts—this doesn't help.
New York State, for example, is dealing with Governor Cuomo 2 percent local tax cap, and it’s killing public education’s means to finance programs, making the safety of protective athletic equipment a frill instead of a necessity.
The “real deal” with the new technology of the football helmet is quite simple— the test!
The whole testing idea is “live,” by selecting some nationwide football programs as a means to be the...excuse the analogy, guinea pigs.
What will determine the success of these new helmets? How many concussions will the players of these football teams have using these new helmets?
Concussions occur when the brain moves inside the skull from an impact or whiplash effect. Doctors are still learning about this type of injury as they debate on what is the best way to test for a concussion or how to identify when they occur.
Of course, anything is an improvement over what has been used in the past. So, if there is not any dramatic change, a school could spend from $15,000- 25,000 on this new technology that has the possibility of not making a difference.
Talk about being caught between-a-rock-and-a-hard place, this fits the bill.
Now multiply that cost of the lower scholastic programs, such as with the JV and freshmen teams. It could total up to $50,000 or more.
There are some scholastic programs, across the country, considering dropping football. Is that the answer? What about other sports that don't have helmets, that are not “full contact” sports, like soccer, where the contact can be incidental and the athlete’s head becomes part of the game for a shot at the goal.
Cutting popular sports, like football, probably is the wrong move because there are so many positive benefits, which outweigh the negatives, for the athlete.
Headgear is an important focus for the protection and the safety of the athletes, so these companies, like Riddell and Xenith, are on the right track.
There needs to be more studies done on the methodology of hitting in football: tackling, running with the ball and blocking.
Understand that this is being done, but sometimes change of technique becomes a difficult endeavor that eventually catches on.
The old philosophy of running with your head down has to become something from the past. So keep your head up, with eyes straight ahead and when tackling, like in boxing, no punching below the belt! Whoops, I mean above the shoulders!
My new rule for football to make this form of hitting work is, if you hit with your head, run with your head down or tackle above the shoulders, you're suspended for the rest of the game.
I think coaches are working at that, but it needs consistency in order to be effective. Change has to start somewhere!
Football officials have a difficult job of policing any new rules about hitting, especially in the NFL, but it has to happen for the safety of the players at all levels, or the game’s future might be in trouble.
