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the improvement of helmets in football
ESSAYS ON THE HISTORY OF FOOTBALL HELMETS
ESSAYS ON THE HISTORY OF FOOTBALL HELMETS
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“A football helmet gives you an awful lot of protection….but you don't have to be a doctor or an engineer or even a football player to realize that the football helmet does not block all the measured force produced when some 300-pound player, with hands the size of a Christmas ham, whacks you in the head dozens of time in a game and season after season.” (Quoted cyril wecht), Football helmets need to be designed so that no one will suffer needless head injuries. Football helmets have changed a lot over time but will it get better and safer let's find out helmets have been a big help to the game called NFL by making it safer to play. By making helmets for the players. Back then around the 14s-20s people would end up getting paralyzed or with series head injuries. Head injuries are one of the biggest risk of playing football. So many didn’t want to play because of that reason. Then the first helmet came out no one was really into until because they absorb to much heat that man it uncomfortable to wear …show more content…
That help him by a lot he went back out there and won the game for the cleveland browns. That change in 1955 they put metal bar across the face so they would stop getting broken noses.That plastic helmet was not enough to keep players safe. The reason why was because they were still breaking into pieces. Still In professional football the only line of defense is your helmet. The helmet weighed about three to five pounds. The first professional team to ever wear the plastic helmet was the rams. Many teams after that wear the helmet not just to look cool but to be safe. One of the reasons why the were helmets are because there ever big tough guys who could destroy you in a heartbeat. So people took safety precautions and were helmets. So they wouldn't end up dead or seriously
Wearing headgear has many positives, reducing injuries is the most obvious one and it could be argued that its help reduces the chance of injuries and even death. At an elite level, Chelsea goalkeeper, Petr Cech is convinced that wearing headgear saved him from suffering extended injuries after colliding with Fulham striker Orlando Sa back in September 2011. Headgear offers a form of padding when worn. It allows juniors and elite athlete’s the reduced chance of head wounds. By this it means it allows for less “cracked skulls”, scars, wounds and so on. It gives a stronger protection on the softer part of the skull which is more prone to damage...
Players are using their heads as a weapon which is careless, dangerous, and should be banned from the sport. A lot of time and money has been invested in improving football helmets. Quinn and Brachmann emphasizes that “There’s a strongly held belief that no matter how much time and money is invested into research and development there will never be a helmet that is truly concussion-proof ” (Quinn and Brachmann). Helmets have been effective in preventing skull fractures, but not concussions. Helmet manufacturers are researching and trying to develop safer protective head
Another very important reason could be that Concussions are mostly caused by tackles that are timed wrong or take a blow to the head. If the NFL added padding for the helmets, maybe the amount of concussions wouldn’t be as high, or they are less of a danger for the players.
American football is full of exciting competition, but do we realize the danger! Helmet safety in football remains an immense problem as the sport accounts for the highest incidence of concussions. Since leather football helmets, the technology for safer helmets has improved drastically and continue to improve. The development of newly designed helmets and technology has lowered the risk of head injuries for players. Furthermore, improvements in helmet testing methods have led to better understanding head injuries and the protectiveness of the helmet. In respect, football helmet safety still remains a challenge, such as a necessity of a proper categorization system to rank helmets and regulations to improve helmet safety. Regardless, standards and regulations attempt to address helmet safety through government intervention and a proper measuring system for football helmets. Despite the cultural perception of football, measures are taken to ensure safety, such as the reforms and education with regards to playing safer football. I intend to address the technological advances and regulation of football towards the discussion of helmet safety. Therefore the aggresivity in football’s culture should embrace stronger helmet standards and regulation that are promoted through improved testing methods and innovations because of the need to prevent further dangerous head injuries, especially concussions.
In the 1950’s, the NFL came across another addition to the helmet as Cleveland Brown’s first Head Coach, Paul Brown came up with the one-bar facemask in the middle of a game after his starting quarterback, Otto Graham took a hit to the face. The other NFL teams soon followed Brown’s design and Brown patented it and is known as the BT-5. Riddell took Brown’s invention into production. Shortly after, facemasks were worn by every player in the game. Detroit Lion Garo Yepremian was the last player to play without a facemask. It wasn’t long until he told ESPN ‘I would wake up every morning with blood in my mouth…I learned my lesson’ (ESPN
In the article “ With player safety preeminent in college football and the NFL, more attention is on helmets” Lee Hanson the founder of the invention “Guardian Cap”, a padded cover that goes over the football helmet to help reduce the risk concussions for football players wants to spread Guardian caps to football athletes
Throughout the years, many sports have evolved from that of their beginning. Be it through rule changes, advances in the way people watch the game, advances in how they play the game, but this biggest one of all is the change in equipment. This is most commonly seen and heard about in American football. Due to all of the advances in the medical field and seeing the sports injuries that occur. Football had to adapt and change to the new standards of safety for the players with new and improved equipment to lessen the chance of long term damage.
The National Football League was formed on August 20, 1920. Players wore pads, not quite as protective as the ones today, helmets and legs pads. Even though their protective gear wasn 't all that protective they still made contact with the players of the opposing teams. As the years progressed the league made many changes to the rules due to player safety. They invented better protective gear for the players and they also made more strict rules regarding playing guidelines. The main goal of those rules, like the targeting rule that is so controversial today, is to protect the players. The targeting rule itself states that no player shall target and initiate contact against an opponent with the crown of his helmet, when in
The first hard plastic helmet was invented in 1939, and by 1965 every player in the NFL wore a hard but thin plastic helmet with a one plastic bar face mask along the front of the helmet (Stamp). These hard plastic helmets were an upgrade compared to the old leather ones, but were not completely capable of protecting the head. The helmets were spherical shaped and only had a hole for each ear. Players fifty years ago often had concussions, bloody lips, broken noses, and other head injuries (Stamp). The one bar facemask, although safer than the previous trend of wearing no face mask, did not protect the nose and eyes from certain injuries. Players fifty years ago often had concussions, bloody lips, broken noses, and other head injuries. Like 1965, Riddell is still the official helmet of the NFL; today their helmets have parts on the side which are thicker and have extra holes on the exterior of the helmet (Stamp). Newer helmets have this structure because certain parts of the helmet add extra protection. The holes on the exterior are for ventilating and keeping the head cool. Current face masks have multiple bars which cover the whole face and are made of hard metal (Stamp). These newer style face masks protect all parts of the face and are strong enough to withstand hits in the NFL. Present day helmets are also specifically designed to prevent concussions by protecting the side of the
In American football, helmets are required to decrease traumatic brain injuries and have been successful in doing so. A large part in the success of helmet design is improvements in technology. The sizes of athletes have gone up to make football more dangerous. To protect against brain injury, helmets designs have changed to become heavier and wider, filled within the space are energy absorbing materials, air space and padding to protect the skull upon impact. Originally, helmets were designed to prevent only traumatic brain injuries, but technology is advancing to fill the gap of concussions. Until recently, the seriousness of concussions were not considered part of the equation that needed to be addressed, so manufactures did not utilized in constructing helmets to address this issue (Post et al. 653). Upon predicting risk of concussions in tests, by themselves linear and rotational acceleration are not suitable measurements for modern helmets. These testing measurements do not address the rotational forces and minor hits to the brain which are associated with concussions (Post et al. 654). Given the seriousness of concussions in contact sports, more attention is given to prevent and reduce concussions through testing methods and advancing technology, stronger regulation and changes to the sport. As stated in the article involving the National Football League (NFL), “The risk involved in playing sports are also very real. The NFL is struggling with serious mental and physical health problems because they sustained repeated mild traumatic brain injuries, is what concussions are called. (“Concussions and Marketing of Sports Equipment” 6).
Have you ever been watching a college or NFL football game and see a player’s helmet fall off, but continue to play? The National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA, has since invented two rules to prevent players from continuing a play once their helmets have fallen off due to concerned viewers and team’s staff. While many were concerned about the safety of the players and their chance of receiving traumatic brain injury from head to head or any head to object contact, others believe the rule should be modified or completely taken out of the rule book. Most incidents that cause a player’s helmet to fall off are due to helmets not being tight enough, the wrong size or shape. Viewers and even NFL spokesman say that helmets flying off of
The statistics show that padding around the waist protects the stomach and the middle part of the body. Hits coming from the stomach can lead to serious problems. It will lead to a lot of injuries to. It will effect the person badly if they do not were more padding around the waist. My second evidence is that more protection to the head will protect the brain the brain is one of the most important parts of the body. People can be in a lot of trouble if they get many concussions. "A new study finds that football helmets currently used on the field may do little to protect against hits to the side of the head, or rotational force, an often dangerous source of brain injury and
Football helmets are the most important pieces of equipment and have been revolutionized since football started. According to Forthofer (21012), when football was a new sport in the 1860s to 1896, helmets were not used. The first helmets that were used were made of mole skin or leather and were very uncomfortable and hot (Forthofer, 2012). In situations where the player gets injured due to faulty equipment gear, the NFL league should be held fully responsible.
The National Football League (NFL) is a very popular sport in America. It is known for its spectacular touchdowns and amazing comeback stories. But most of all, the hard hits from one player to another. There’s been a lot of controversy over the protection of the players and the punishment of those who put others in danger with these hits. The NFL enforced strict rules against players who collide with other players in the case of a helmet-to-helmet hit, such as penalties and huge fines. A helmet-to-helmet hit is when a defender uses his helmet to hit the helmet of a defenseless offensive player. This is what to be called as a dangerous action to do in the NFL. The league created these rules to make the game safer. The causes of these rules being applied were the depression of the players once they receive the hit to the head, a disease that was found in former players after collisions, and concussions.
While the use of helmets does aid in protecting players from brain trauma, they also increase the risky behavior of players; this is called risk compensation. Risk compensation is the adjustment of individual behavior, responding to the perceived changes in risk (TheFreeDictionary.com). Most people that wear helmets have a pre-conceived idea that, because they have a helmet on, they can possess more daring behaviors and be fine. The helmet is basically thought of as a tool to hit harder, or improve performance in today’s culture. Adventure writer and pilot, Lane Wallace (2011) accurately understands the dangers of helmets being used incorrectly, and how they are used as weapons instead of safety. Wallace also theorizes like the NFL, a change in football culture and of viewpoints towards helmets would vastly reduce trauma to the