The race to create the safest football helmet

Once upon a time, the football helmet was one of many pieces of equipment meant to protect a part of the anatomy.  Each piece had been mass produced for decades with only marginal improvements in design and material.  In recent years, with the benefit of intense study, the game’s effect on the brain has completely altered the discussion with regards to safety.  Joints and bones can be repaired, brains can’t.

There’s a fallacy that if we can create phones that do almost everything and self-driving cars, then this task should not be overly difficult.  But a human brain is anything but uniform.

Preventing head trauma is key to keeping football players safe from developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. While teaching safer tackling or playing flag football is recommended for younger players, one thing all players can benefit from is a safer helmet. Manufacturers understand this need and are all racing to create the safest helmet.

Produced by Scott Henry of Orange Lion Productions with additional production assistance from Marc Kinderman and Stephen Roll.