Design A Better Professional Football Helmet

[BillsImpossible]

10 years from now, today's NFL helmets will look like barbaric antiques just like helmets from 1985 look like something out of the Bronze Age.

Imagine something better that will still look good on television. It's sad, but true that professional football helmets are not as safe as they could be today because of looks alone. The NFL could mandate that every player wear a 10 inch cushion surrounding their helmets, but the players would look like a bunch of clowns with Afros on TV.

Ideas please. I've had a few but then again too few to mention.

1. Helmet Gel - some kind of clear, practically invisible thin cap that surrounds a player's helmet, can withstand serious impacts and somehow distribute the energy from the impact to the gel. If a player gets hit hard enough in the head, the helmet gel would instantly blow up in size. If the gel bubble bursts after a direct hit to the head, the player who delivered the blow would get automatically ejected from the game.

Imagine a player's helmet gel bubble getting burst all over the field like a Ron Jeremy money shot, with the player being able to walk off unharmed and his opponent leaving the field with his own ejected burst bubble. I can already hear coaches say, "don't blow your wad on a risky hit! Save your head!"

Whoever said that the NFL is unrelated to life is not living.

Just think of the commentary..."Oh my! What a hit! Wait a minute here. Oh here we go folks, both players helmet gels are blowing up quicker than a bomb in Libya. If Smith's helmet bursts this is going to be huge, an automatic first down and Reed will be ejected from the game...BOOM, there she blows! First down Carolina! Ed Reed is headed for the locker room with a helmet full of ectoplasm!"

2. Face masks need a makeover. It's basically a steel cage that can't absorb any impact to a player's head. How about replacing the face mask with the NFL's version of the digital fence for dogs. Any hand that comes within 4 inches of a player's face would get zapped by an electric face field.

If a player grabs the invisible fence, his hand will get zapped down by technology.

3. One of the two above should be possible. Helmet gel that blows up on impact does not exist, but invisible electric fences do.

Get rid of the face mask and replace it with an electric fence mask. Anyone who touches it will get shocked, and receive a 10 yard penalty.

[feldspar]

Invisible electric fence? You can't really be serious...

[coastal]

http://asceatumich.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/flagfootball.jpg

[chernobylwraiths]

Make helmets like Indy cars that will break on high impact but not lower impact but absorb more of the force. It might limit players leading with their head knowing the helmet would break. That is what is the problem in a lot of sports these days, the equipment is so good that people delivering the hits receive little to no pain in doing so because the equipment protects them. All except for the helmet which, while still used as a weapon, doesn't do as much as it could to prevent the wearer from getting concussions.

It would probably be too costly for the NFL to constantly have a supply of helmets though when they are broken. But you will find the players using their helmets to tackle.

[don137]

The problem with better helmets is just like hockey. The better the helmets the more reckless the players become.

[better days]

The problem with better helmets is just like hockey. The better the helmets the more reckless the players become.

I say lets go back to leather helmets, no facemask.

The helmet has become a weapon & does not offer any real protection against concussions.

[RedEyE]

I have a better idea. Just get rid of the helmet all together and slimeline the shoulder pads.

Once the helmet is gone, I guarantee you won't see defenders leading with their head. Instead they'll be forced to tackle.

No more throwing your body at the ball carrier.

No more facemask penalties.

If players are concerned with maintaining their boyish good looks (Brady), they can wear face covers. I imagine something like what Hannible Lecter wears except with a Nike swoosh printed across the cheek.

EDIT**others mentioned this above as well. Started typing when there were only 3 posts in the thread, got distracted by work, then finished and submitted. Sorry for rehashing.

[jdaltroy5]

Soft padding for every piece of equipment.

[Bill Cody]

electric fence:zonelunch

[Pinkerton Security]

2. Face masks need a makeover. It's basically a steel cage that can't absorb any impact to a player's head. How about replacing the face mask with the NFL's version of the digital fence for dogs. Any hand that comes within 4 inches of a player's face would get zapped by an electric face field.

If a player grabs the invisible fence, his hand will get zapped down by technology.

And this is why no one on this board will ever take you seriously. This might be the funniest idea I've heard in a while. How is this going to help with player safety?

[OpIv37]

I hope the invisible fence thing was a poor attempt at a joke. First, it's a stupid idea.

Second, the invisible fence isn't a force field of electricity, or else people would get shocked by it too. The fence just sends a signal to the dog's shock collar. So, even if it was a good idea, the only way it would work is if players wore gloves with electrodes and giant battery packs.

[bf1]

http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1888957/mark-kelsos-head-was-used-for-helmet-storage.jpg

[wolfpack]

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/dfef4f922c583856fa371d04b3334d12bd5d856d/r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/USATODAY/test/2013/07/30/1375222396000-helmet-best-7-30-13-1307301814_4_3.jpg

[wolfpack]

http://www.helmethut.com/DrDelrye/Dr102808b.jpghttp://a.espncdn.com/photo/2008/0214/pg2_gladiatorwhite_300.jpg

[RedEyE]

http://www.helmethut.com/DrDelrye/Dr102808b.jpghttp://a.espncdn.com/photo/2008/0214/pg2_gladiatorwhite_300.jpg


The reaction-molded flexible urethane is a nice touch but can you option in an electrical fence?

[stuckincincy]

16690

[Mr. Pink]

Just get rid of helmets.

Players will stop leading with their head.

[RedEyE]

Bored at lunch:

16691

[RedEyE]

16692

[RedEyE]

16693

[Mace]

16694

Double the size for padding, and fit it with collision airbags.

[Mace]

Or man up and :

16695

If you want to play the sport and make that money, accept that you will have no reasonable motor control after a while, teeth, bone or cartilage remaining in your face, bladder supremacy, or expressable thought process.

[Downinfloflo]

Rugby players are laughing..


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lMbKxesO0L8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Mace]

Rugby players are laughing..


<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lMbKxesO0L8" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

Oh there will be lawsuits one day.

[TigerJ]

The problem with better helmets is just like hockey. The better the helmets the more reckless the players become.There's certainly a tendency in human nature that suggests that could happen. While the league works on a safer helmet, the officiating would have to continue being diligent about calling penalties, and maybe throwing players out for flagrant instances of using helmets as weapons. Suspensions and fines need to be a continuing tool of the league in dealing with excessive violence with intent to injure.

[YardRat]

Doesn't matter how 'safe' the league tries to make helmets, it will only do so much to lessen the frequency of concussions occurring. If it were just a helmet issue, concussions wouldn't be prevalent in other activities such as soccer and horseback riding.

[OLDSRIP]

Invisible electric fence? You can't really be serious...

Really, beyond being a strange idea. How would that stop a guy from getting a helmet, foot or glove in the face.

dont do drugs kids.

[OLDSRIP]

I say lets go back to leather helmets, no facemask.

The helmet has become a weapon & does not offer any real protection against concussions.


I heard Joe D on the radio the other day. He was talking about the guys who played with leather helmets and no face masks.
he said many of them lived nice long lives with little evidence of concussions in later life.

Simple, they didn't use their heads as weapons. Before the helmets were "upgraded".
I can see that. But I really can't picture the NFL getting rid of helmets or face masks.
That just sounds to radical, even if it might help.

[Mr. Pink]

Rugby players are laughing..


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lMbKxesO0L8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Aussie Rules Football players are also laughing.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/s1aU0hz5Tf8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[BillsImpossible]

Has anyone here ever tried to place two magnets against one another only to find that they reject the same polarity?

They repel.

Why not apply the basic science of magnetism to professional football helmets with simple magnets that repel one helmet to another?

That in my opinion is the fastest, easiest fix to what is ailing the NFL today in terms of head trauma.

Magnets. Pretty simple, and would be highly effective at reducing head trauma and concussions.

Magnetic fields are a reality of science. Why not apply magnetism to the NFL helmet?

[Joe Fo Sho]

Has anyone here ever tried to place two magnets against one another only to find that they reject the same polarity?

They repel.

Why not apply the basic science of magnetism to professional football helmets with simple magnets that repel one helmet to another?

That in my opinion is the fastest, easiest fix to what is ailing the NFL today in terms of head trauma.

Magnets. Pretty simple, and would be highly effective at reducing head trauma and concussions.

Magnetic fields are a reality of science. Why not apply magnetism to the NFL helmet?

I assume the magnets are insanely strong in order to prevent two helmets from colliding during a full speed football game. It seems like a really bad idea to place these strong magnets on top of players necks. You're just replacing one damaging force for another.

[Mace]

I assume the magnets are insanely strong in order to prevent two helmets from colliding during a full speed football game. It seems like a really bad idea to place these strong magnets on top of players necks. You're just replacing one damaging force for another.

From what I know of it, mostly depends on how badly you want players to have bladder control or motor control over basic bodily functions and movements. Since I don't play the sport I'd say hell yeah, it would be entertaining.

Would get pretty gruesome sometimes though for those who have screws or plates rehabbing injuries, to suddenly find their limbs flopping with their parts on someones head. But that might be entertaining too if subject to certain special interest groups.