NFL holds injury prevention conference
NFL officials met with concussion experts, doctors and representatives from helmet manufacturers this Wednesday to discuss new technologies that could make football safer.
Manufacturers used the opportunity to present ideas and share research on various new models of helmets. Scientists present evaluated the merits of each design.
NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, also attended the meeting. He scheduled only to make a brief stop but ended up staying for hours. Doctors present said that they believed considerable improvements would be made within the decade to further improve helmet
safety.
“There was a general view that the helmets have improved, but we all have to work harder to find how we're going to take it to the next evolution of those helmets — gathering all the data, gathering all the technology that's being developed”, Goodell said.
He added that there were many different approaches but all had the same goal.
Goodell said that the league was looking at ways to reduce the risk of injury from helmet-to-helmet hits while at the same time making sure those hits don’t happen as often. Member of the NFL’s head, neck and spine committee and professor at the University
of North Carolina, Kevin Guskiewicz, said that the best option for minimizing concussions and eventually eliminating them altogether was to change behaviour on the field, “Changing the culture at the professional level will be a challenge, but I think the
NFL has done a good job over the past several months here to begin that process”.
Goodell also took the opportunity to emphasize that the league’s new policy has prevented many players from returning too soon after suffering concussions. The league’s amended return-to-play guidelines require a doctor to sign off before a player can return
to the field. Many doctors told the commissioner that because the guidelines were changed many players, who would have returned prematurely in previous years, were prevented from playing.
During the meeting it was suggested that different positions in the league require different type of protection. Dr. Guskiewicz suggested that a certain design could work better for a receiver and another might be more suited for a lineman. He said that
more information needs to be gathered on concussions and how individuals respond to them to facilitate the development of specialized helmets.
The committee was also opposed to the idea of an official NFL helmet. Currently helmet maker Riddell has an agreement with the league to be the only helmet with the maker of its manufacturer displayer on the outside. Player can choose to wear helmets made
by a different manufacturers but the logo cannot be displayed on the football field. Riddell pays a substantial sum of money to the NFL to have that privilege.
The committee acknowledged that there was no research to suggest that helmets manufactured by Riddell are any safer than other helmets that are used by NFL players. However having an official NFL helmet gave the wrong signals. "There's always going to be
a cloud of suspicion and doubt so long as we have a single entity that is being designated as official," Robert Erb, CEO of Schutt and one of Riddell’s competitors said at the meeting.
At the meeting helmet manufacturers proposed a new helmet with softer outside shell. The heavy cushioning on the helmet makes sure that it cannot be used as a dangerous weapon even in helmet-to-helmet hits. Former Bills defender Mark Kelso was the representative
for the soft shell helmet manufacturers. During his career Kelso sustained many concussions and wore a helmet with extra padding and to protect his head.
At the meeting Commissioner Goodell also spoke about reducing offseason workouts that the NFL would allow teams to hold. The move is meant to ease the physical strain and answer the safety concerns of the NFLPA with regards to an 18 games regular season.
Goodell said that he hoped to enact the change before the next season.
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