The sports world’s version of the Hatfields and the McCoys finally have agreed on something. Something other than, you know, agreeing to continue to disagree on a lot of things.
The NFL and the NFL Players Association jointly have announced the results of a first-of-its-kind helmet testing study. Via multiple documents containing the logos of both organizations, copies of which documents PFT has obtained, the league and the union jointly have summarized the study. The league and the union separately have provided for use by players a list of questions and answers about the project.
An introductory memo from Commissioner Roger Goodell explains to all coaches, trainers, and equipment managers the origin of the helmet testing study, and it urges the teams to share the information with the players. Goodell points out that the study focused only on “certain open-field collisions that have been associated with concussions in the NFL.” As a result, the study involved “only a subset of the kinds of impacts that NFL players experience.” And so Goodell accurately describes the study as an “initial step” for learning more about the performance of the safety equipment used by NFL players.
The study itself, as summarized by the NFL and the NFLPA, found that all of the 16 commercially available styles of helmets manufactured by Adams, Protective Sports Equipment, Riddell, and Schutt “met the current National Operating Committee on Standard for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) certification to protect players against severe traumatic skill and brain injuries.” The helmets were tested with a linear impactor device, a device that delivered pre-determined impact forces to the helmet.
The top performing helmets, based on the limited focus of the test, were the Riddell Revolution, the Revolution Speed, and the Schutt DNA Pro. Still, the summary emphasizes two key points: (1) no helmet can prevent concussions; and (2) the results cannot be extrapolated to college, high school, or youth football.
The list of questions and answers provided with the summary of the test make clear to the players the limitations of the study. The questions and answers also emphasize that any NOCSAE-certified helmet may be used by players, while reminding the players that wearing one of the top performing helmets won’t necessarily decrease the risk of suffering a concussions.
“The NFL and NFLPA are looking at a number of follow-on projects,” the list of questions and answers concludes. “One would involve additional and broader laboratory testing, using more speeds, more impact points, etc. Another would involve on-field review of helmets. And we are also looking to expand the research to include other kinds of safety equipment so that all of the manufacturers involved in this field can benefit from the information.”
Though much work needs to be done when it comes to fully and completely evaluating NFL safety equipment, the good news is that the league and the union have found an issue on which they agree. Now, if they can continue that process with roughly 137 additional issues, maybe we’ll have football in 2011.
