The National Football League last week held a summit on how safety standards for football helmets can be modernized and improved, gathering equipment makers, physicists and “military biomechanists” for the discussion, according to The New York Times.
The problem today with helmets is that they are designed to protect a player from injuries such as skull fractures, but not to guard against more subtle and hidden brain trauma, like concussions. The Times has done several stories about the fact that the helmet-safety guides set by the National Organizing Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment haven’t changed since 1973.
There apparently was a lot of talk and little agreement during last Wednesday’s summit in Manhattan, except on one point: That the football helmets worn by youth players should have different standards than those for NFL players. While the youth helmets are lighter, their performance specs are the same as for the pros, despite their physical differences, according to The Times.
Also at the meeting, several equipment managers also demonstrated their “in-helmet accelerometers,” which can help identify the collisions that cause concussions.
The issue of helmet safety is an ongoing study. The Consumer Products Safety Commission last week said it would investigate helmet standards, which it is doing at the request of Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico.
There is already research being done, involving hundreds of high school and college students, by the University of North Carolina and Virginia Tech on impact levels and concussions, The Times reported. But there is no such research yet for pro players.
