NFL rolls out new helmets to protect players from violent hits

The NFL is rolling out new helmets to protect players from violent hits and concussions. The helmets have evolved over the years with newest models customized based on the player's position. NBC News' Sam Brock shows us how they work.

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#nfl #football #helmet

[tedwilliams]

NFL: Now that I gave y’all new helmets, y’all go play 30 games.

[frank-kode]

All the while nothing is talked about in stabilizing the neck against impact. The posture and stability of the neck and spine also plays a role against impact.

[JackNCoke]

No helmet is going save Tua's career. Dude is made out of glass.

[Lamin_G]

The helmet pads may help absorb some of the impact [of collisions] and spare players from immediate physical injury. However, they do not eliminate the _jolts_ [violent movements of the head] that cause brain injury.

[TheNetflixNook]

It’s a good thing to see the NFL taking this seriously now. Didn’t realize helmets were getting positional specific

[threeofive]

The problem comes from a sudden stop in the motion of the head. The brain's momentum inflicts damage when it stops suddenly. To actually stop concussions almost completely, a helmet could be a large, air-filled bubble. I mean _large_ . Like a car airbag. Another possibility (I use the word "possibility" loosely), is to have a field, or perhaps footwear that drastically restricts footspeed. Players running half their normal speed.

[KaiTakApproach]

When I was a senior and finally had first pick on helmets, I grabbed about 20 of them and guarded them like a junkyard dog as I proceeded to try them on and compare for over half an hour. I finally got the right fit after years of playing, and stopped getting headaches.
I wish I had access to these new helmets when I was a kid; even a little goes such a long way.

[darkain]

Nothing they can do from stopping the brain from hitting the skull no matter how well they build helmets

[TheWesterosiNinja]

What they should do is offer less protection like shoulder pads that enable players just to go full tilt at one another. Rugby is just as violent a sport but you don't see as many head or other serious injuries because the players have no protection and thus have to hold back otherwise they will injure themselves.

[Dan-]

The guardian cap is the equivalent of bubble wrapping your car bruh

[realjay]

Concussions and brain damage will never be eradicated from football. The brain is so delicate and and only attached to the brain stem and floating in fluid, helmets are only there to stop the skull from fracturing, not from the brain bashing against the skull causing repeated accumulative damage. The scary thing is, these risks are at all levels of the game!

[IsaacHozz]

Hey anything they can do to improve player safety -- because they will not protect themselves. We saw that last week with a clearly concussed Josh Allen.

[pac]

The NFL is full of ish. A while ago they profiled a company that developed a helmet that decreased head injury significantly. The reason that the helmet has not seen the light of day is that it has a soft outer shell instead of a hard one to cause that big crack sound on a big hit. NFL deemed that the fans wanted to hear big cracks of helmet during game play so they shelved those helmets.

[TheoriginalBMT]

The best thing about this tech. Is getting this down to the youth levels.

[user]

Does anyone know what the indoor sports centre that this video was filmed at?

[theophilussogoromo]

0:41 facts. Can a kicker even be considered a football player when all he does is kick?😂

[camdoesitall]

They just need some rebound tech within the pads as well along with the helmet that doesn’t just absorb but also cushions and works against the impact as a reaction to the action idk maybe they come out with some nano tech in undershirts they goes up to the neck and it’s padding that can react to hits and in certain positions help the impact of collision

[kennygismo]

The NFL can bring out all of the new helmets that they want, it will not eliminate concussions from the sport. A concussion is caused by the brain moving inside the skull in a manner that causes it to strike off of the skull itself. You can have all the padding you want on the outside of the helmet, it still will not prevent the brain from moving around if a player is hit hard enough in the head or neck area, causing the players brain to move around inside the skull.

[TitanicFan]

The Dolphins are treating Tua like the Colts treated Luck, at this rate we are at most a few years away from his "I'm Retiring" press release.

[deliman]

Nice but, if you leave the choice up to the players it'll be tough to mandate. I still see players wearing oversized helmets or not buckling up the chin strap.