Making Football Safer: Assessing the current NFL policy on the type of helmets allowed on the playing field

In an effort to reduce concussions in football, a helmet safety-rating system was developed in 2011 that rated helmets based on their ability to reduce g-forces experienced by the head across a range of impact forces measured on the playing field. Although this was considered a major step in making the game safer, the NFL continues to allow players the right to choose what helmet to wear during play. This prompted us to ask: what helmets do NFL players wear and does this helmet policy make the game safer? Accordingly, we identified the helmets worn by nearly 1000 players on Weeks 13 and 1 of the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 seasons, respectively. Using stop-motion footage, we found that players wore a wide range of helmets with varying safety ratings influenced, in part, by the player’s position and age. Moreover, players wearing lower safety-rated helmets were more likely to receive a concussion than those wearing higher safety-rated helmets. Interestingly, many players suffering a concussion in 2015 did not ...