Illumin
Johnny Chen-Cheung
Writ 340
The Current Design of Football Helmets and Concussion
Introduction
The game of football differs greatly in comparison to what it was a couple of decades ago.
Players today in the National Football League are stronger and faster, thus making the game
more violent than it has ever been. One of the many reasons the NFL is the most watch
entertainment in sports in the United States is because the fans enjoy the hits and violence that
comes with football. Despite, the advancement in the way the game is played, there is still has
not been a lot of improvement in the players safety in the design of safer helmets. The decision
to wear a particular helmet is decided by each player, not by the league. As a result, the league
has neither mandated nor officially recommended the helmet models that have tested as the
top performers in protecting against collisions believed to be linked to concussions [1]. Lately,
there have been numerous reports from many retired players developing some mental
problems due to the numerous injuries from using old standard helmets. Over the recent years,
the head injuries have become the major concern since the current helmet designs has not
changed a lot to keep up with the way the game is played today. As a result, all the players are
in risk of permanent injury while playing football or developing it sometime in the future. In
order to prevent any more health problems for current and future players of football, safer
helmet design must be developed to continue the sports of football or a major change needs to
be done about the way football is played.
Current football helmet and the problem
Most people believe that the current helmets are outdated and fail to prevent decrease the
energy delivered to the brain during impacts. During a big hit during the game by the players,
the only thing protecting the
heads from the resulting
collision is the paddings inside
the helmets. The speed and
the force from the collision
guarantee that there is going
to be some head trauma.
Current helmets are so rigid
that when they collide with
another helmet, the brain
absorbs more energy
Figure 1 Collisions from the head recorded during the season. National Geography
[2]
increasing the chance of head
injuries. According to Figure 1, the graphic shows about 537 hits to the head taken from a
player with the yellow lines showing hits below 80g in magnitude and the red lines are hits
above 80g in magnitudes. Out of all the hits, two of them resulted in concussion from the black
lines. The hits are from the result of just one season, players today start playing football as early
as 10 years old in pop warner leagues, youth football, are at even greater risk from brain injury
as the hits accumulated over the years. Guskiewicz, director of the University of North Carolina
Sports Concussion Research Program, analyzed data from the accelerometers attached to the
helmets are used to monitor and track all the hits in order to explain the changes to the brain
throughout the players’ football career [3]. The areas researchers tests are the helmet, center
of the head, and mouthpiece to measure the total G forces from any hit. Research shows that
concussion happens from the result of many hits not just from a single hit to the head. The
physics of the way helmet works is when the force strikes the helmet, the energy from the
acceleration and mass has to go somewhere. The energy travels through various materials and
structure of the helmet, thus
increasing the duration of the
energy before it strikes the
head. Research showed that a
force greater than 98g often
results in a concussion [6]
.Researchers are able to see
Figure 2 Brain scans over two year study. Purdue [4]
player’s brain activity using a
brain imaging technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI, and a computer
neurocognitive screening test. The test allows researcher to see the activities of the brain
during a specific task. Throughout the season, the fMRI signal shows the correlation between
the number of hits a player takes and the change in brain signal. Figure 2, shows that the brain
activity of the player changes and no longer being used during the year of playing football.
Researchers believe any changed in the fMRI data suggest change in the brain where it can lead
to impairment later in the future.
Engineering better helmets
No helmet can completely prevent concussions, but there are ways to add new technology to
the helmets that would at least decrease the impacts to the brain. The goal is to lower the
amount of force because the location and the amount of hits matter the most in the
development of long-term brain injury to the players. The helmets today mostly protect against
skull fracture, but it still does not protect against reducing the force from collisions. One of the
most important collaboration with the NFL comes from military technology where both entities
can develop better helmets for soldiers and players using new technology. In order to engineer
better helmets, everything comes down to knowing how energy transfers from the helmet to
the head of the player during a hit. When a helmet to helmet hit occurs, the helmet should
absorb most of the force from the impact so the brain should absorb less of the force. Eric
Nauman, Purdue University Neurotrauma Group biomechanical engineering professor,
patented a new technology for the helmets that can lower the force to a player’s brain by 50
percent [5]. There are many different ways to design a better helmet to reduce head trauma by
achieving a lighter and better fitting for players. Today, the ratings for new helmet are out of
five stars, where five stars are the best in lowering the chance of getting a concussion. The
newer helmets designed by Xenith, rated at four stars, has shown to be superior to any other
helmets on the market. The cushion system in the Xenith helmets act like shock absorbers from
a car so the impact from a hit from another helmet will decrease. The helmet is designed to
protect the major part of the head vulnerable to collisions. Another
top rated helmet today is the Riddell 360, it features a hard
polycarbonate shell to bounce off an impact and energy absorbing
foam lining to absorb the aftershock. In addition, the helmet has
spring-like facemask optimized for head facing collisions. The
research led by Dr. Stefan Duma from Virginia Tech tested many
different new helmets where the Riddell 360 was able to cut the
peak force of a head-on-head collision impact by half when
compared to the worst helmets in the league [7]. According to the
research and development at Riddle, the new helmet reduces the
Figure 3 Riddell 360 Helmet.
Technology Review [6]
impact by 70% of hits by designing a system where the location, magnitude, and direction of
hits are expected to be. The flexible material enables the energy to be transferred to the front
of the head. Another challenge in developing the Riddell helmets was the protection against
angular acceleration, when a player is hit in the head causing the head to spin slightly which
leads to concussions. Studies are still experimented the causes of injuries from the impact to
the head. The ways helmets are tested today are still unreliable in determining what really
causes head trauma. More tests are needed to be done because there are still many things
researchers do not fully understand.
Conclusion
Football is a big entertainment on television that millions of fans watch around the world for
the game as well as for the hits. While players are hitting each other, the players are risking
their future by facing some long-term brain injury. Engineering safer helmet not only will help
current NFL players in the end, but also the health for kids who wish to play football in the
future. Many players still do not know the risk they are taking from playing football where the
each hits accumulate over time causing the brain to degenerate. While still many people
believe that helmets alone will not save players from getting concussion, safety is one of the
main concerns moving forward to prevent any more related deaths from retired players who
suffer from some sort of head trauma. When the helmets where first introduced, the only
concern for the league was that it protected the head from fracture, but it was not tested for
concussions. The first step to the right path is the option for players to choose a safer helmet
from the market that has been tested to reduce the risk of possible brain injury because there
are still about 38% of players still using the low rated helmets [8]. Concussion cannot be
completely eliminated from the game of football, nevertheless, as long as players are educated
about the cause of concussion. In the end, something has to be done or change the game of
football completely to save the lives of the players. The decision is ultimately up to the players
to make the decision to protect themselves about their own health.
References
[1] Sam Borden. " Despite Risks, N.F.L. Leaves Helmet Choices in Players’
Hands," The New York Times, pp. A1, 09/21/2012.
[2] Luna Shyr. “The Big Idea: Brain Trauma” [Online] National Geographic. (February 2011)
Available at HTTP:
idea/concussions-text
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/02/big-
[3] Luna Shyr. “NFL Looks to Helmet Technology to Combat Concussions” [Online] National
Geographic News. (02/01/2013) Available at HTTP:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130202-football-concussions-nflsuper-bowl-safety-head-injuries-health/
[4] Emil Venere. “Football findings suggest concussions caused by series of hits” [Online]
Purdue University. (02/02/2012) Available at HHTP:
http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2012/120202NaumanFootball.html
[5] Jim Schenke. “Experts: New football helmet technology can cut G-force to brain by 50
percent” [Online] Purdue University (01/30/2013) Available at HTTP:
http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2013/Q1/experts-new-football-helmettechnology-can-cut-g-force-to-brain-by-50-percent.html
[6] Brittany Sauser. “The Search for a Safer Helmet” [Online] MIT Technology Review.
(01/26/2011) Available at HTTP: http://www.technologyreview.com/news/422513/thesearch-for-a-safer-helmet/
[7] Associated Press. Study: NFL helmets were poorly rated [Online] (05/11/2011) Available
at HTTP: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6517927