Will CTE Mean the End of Hard Shell Helmets? | The Boneyard

Will CTE Mean the End of Hard Shell Helmets?

That would greatly reduce the concerns about CTE because guys would simply die on the field.

You should look at the history of football and the reason helmets were created in the first place. It took the President of the United States to calm the crowd who wanted football banned once upon a time. The reason, guys were suffering major head injuries before helmets were mandated. Soft helmets helped, but they didn't work well enough.
 
I'm not so sure. Right now hard helmets allow the players to feel comfortable making themselves a battering ram. I have to believe that soft helmets would mitigate that.
 
From a recent discussion in CTE/Concussions in Conference Realigment Thread:
traitor71 said:
There is a lot of ongoing research into making better helmets. One thing is for sure, with the amount of money at stake, the NFL is going to be all in on this stuff moving forward. I google searched "new football helmet" and found this company that seems to specialize in this area. If enough smart people are working on this, maybe the next big study years down the line will show some better results.

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The first two paragraphs should paint the picture. How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football - History in the Headlines

Now remember guys are much bigger, stronger, and faster now. If guys we getting knocked silly then, imagine what that would look like now.

Strangely, CTE is proof helmets work. Impacts that used to kill or debilitate can now be experienced hundreds of times without a player dying on the field. That result is the new problem.
 
I hear you, but the present path is simply not sustainable long term. Gotta look at it objectively, not how you want it to turn out. I am not convinced that soft shell helmets are better, just would like to see some data.
 
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MilliniumPrince said:
That would greatly reduce the concerns about CTE because guys would simply die on the field.

You should look at the history of football and the reason helmets were created in the first place. It took the President of the United States to calm the crowd who wanted football banned once upon a time. The reason, guys were suffering major head injuries before helmets were mandated. Soft helmets helped, but they didn't work well enough.
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Oooookaaaay and we are literally 100+ years in the future.

I would be most skeptical of what they do for face masks, but let's not talk about modern cars by referencing the Model T.
 
RSTuthill said:
I hear you, but the present path is simply not sustainable long term. Gotta look at it objectively, not how you want it to turn out. I am not convinced that soft shell helmets are better, just would like to see some data.
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Not talking about what I want or what is sustainable. Just history.

Someone will need to create super helmet of some sort. The NFL will be fine, for now. Pop Warner and high school may see big participation falloff.
 
Rocktheworld said:
Oooookaaaay and we are literally 100+ years in the future.

I would be most skeptical of what they do for face masks, but let's not talk about modern cars by referencing the Model T.
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Since we know the limitations of the Model T, why make more?
 
MilliniumPrince said:
Since we know the limitations of the Model T, why make more?
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We're not talking about throwing on a freaking leather helmet. Watch the video supplied in this thread and you can see the obvious difference between a hard shell and soft helmet. I don't know if that particular helmet is the answer but it's headed in the right direction.
 
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huskymedic said:
From a recent discussion in CTE/Concussions in Conference Realigment Thread:
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That video is somewhat offensive.

If you have technology to make the game safer - let's get it tested. If you spend your capital making expensive videos that look like a horror movie trailer I can't believe you are serious about safety rather than being a self proclaimed tech company with a profit motivation. I have a feeling that NFL Hall of Famers aren't showing up to attest to the helmet unpaid.

Personally I'm not sold that anything softer than today's equipment wouldn't lead to thousands of players paralyzed and dying from broken necks. Even a fraction of a second of a helmet sticking just means the momentum of the body is going to lead to disaster at the top of the spinal column/cord.
 
whaler11 said:
That video is somewhat offensive.

If you have technology to make the game safer - let's get it tested. If you spend your capital making expensive videos that look like a horror movie trailer I can't believe you are serious about safety rather than being a self proclaimed tech company with a profit motivation. I have a feeling that NFL Hall of Famers aren't showing up to attest to the helmet unpaid.

Personally I'm not sold that anything softer than today's equipment wouldn't lead to thousands of players paralyzed and dying from broken necks. Even a fraction of a second of a helmet sticking just means the momentum of the body is going to lead to disaster at the top of the spinal column/cord.
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Offensive? Not so much. It's marketing designed to make an upward push.
 
CL82 said:
Offensive? Not so much. It's marketing designed to make an upward push.
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If you had a helmet that could prove reduced concussions by even 5% you could sell one to every youth, high school and college football player in the country.

If you are spending money on Tony Dorsett and 4 minute marketing videos you don't have squadoosh.

It's offensive in that the sense that it's complete bs.
 
whaler11 said:
If you had a helmet that could prove reduced concussions by even 5% you could sell one to every youth, high school and college football player in the country.

If you are spending money on Tony Dorsett and 4 minute marketing videos you don't have squadoosh.

It's offensive in that the sense that it's complete bs.
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Coming to an NFL practice field near you...

The safest helmet in football is set to make its NFL debut next season

Interested to see feedback from teams & NFLPA.
 
whaler11 said:
If you had a helmet that could prove reduced concussions by even 5% you could sell one to every youth, high school and college football player in the country.

If you are spending money on Tony Dorsett and 4 minute marketing videos you don't have squadoosh.

It's offensive in that the sense that it's complete bs.
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If you are trying to get traction how do you do it? Parents up is probably the right tack.

I do have a healthy skepticism about effectiveness in the absence of data though.
 
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I remember a while back reading somewhere that rugby does not have the concussion problem that football has.

Is that true or just a myth?
 
Funny thing is I remember playing with the web suspension helmets and then they transitioned into the padded type ( some water with foam and some just foam until they all transitioned to the version still worn). Having suffered many concussions, from high school into college, the one thing I remembered is I never had a problem with a loose fitting helmet, and only started having problems when the protocol was a tight fitting helmet. I begged to keep my old helmet as a senior in HS and they wouldn't let me. It was only after moving to the snugly padded helmet that I started getting nasty head contacts with blackouts, stars and head buzzing. Every hit is channeled right into your head, even glancing blows, whereas the older, loose fit web suspension helmets would move and twist with impact, redirecting it. I really think there is something to making these helmets be able to pivot and move upon impact with being fully connected to the skull.

One problem with soft helmets is they are sticky and blows do not slide off and force doesn't get redirected during my impact.

One thing is for certain, the size and speed of players has increased so significantly that the impact forces are much higher than they have ever been. I hope they find a solution without ruining the game. It is meant to be a violent physically and psychologically painful battle of wills.
 
TheDrifter75 said:
We're not talking about throwing on a freaking leather helmet. Watch the video supplied in this thread and you can see the obvious difference between a hard shell and soft helmet. I don't know if that particular helmet is the answer but it's headed in the right direction.
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Ever think the answer is both. Look your skull is a helmet for the brain, but surrounding the brain is fluid. I believe the problem with the helmet...they are not designed to break, there is nothing internal in the helmet to dissipate the shock as it travels through. For example bicycle and motorcycle helmets are meant to break around the skull. If the helmet breaks the skull should receive less damage. It's been said that even dropping a bicycle helmet can severely weaken its ability to protect the wearer. Yet football helmets are tossed around, slammed on the ground, and the amount of "G's" during full impact and yet they are reused & reworn. My thought a cheaper throw-away helmet could be the answer, but it means lots of cycling of helmets, placing crash test dummies on battering rams and studying side, frontaL, rear, and double impacts, Etc....but what do I know!
 
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That Vicis helmet has an amazing design. I couldn't even have imagined that. So well done.
 
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Butch said:
That Vicis helmet has an amazing design. I couldn't even have imagined that. So well done.
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Agreed. Suspect they may need to go just a bit more flexible yet, but certainly a step in the right direction and we should get a lot of data very soon. The facemasks will need something too, maybe some kind of flexible composite.

If this is a major improvement, it will mark yet another time that materials science will have saved our butts. I am not a materials guy, but my hat regularly goes off to them. Just incredible what they can do.
 
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