The Back Alley Archives

anyone else notice how much more prevalent it is for helmets to come off during play this year? it seems to be the only the new style hats too. this has got to be fixed asap. i can foresee a massive injury due to a helmet collideing w/ a player that's helmet has come off.

they stop play if the ball carrier's helmet comes off, but if any other player's does, it's play as usual.

mommy - has your hubby heard anything regarding this?

Oh yeah, it's those crappy Revolution helmets made by Riddell. They are pure crap but because of all the kick-backs and low bids (while nickle and diming you to death on the actual work), they get all the equipment managers to use their product. Plus, Riddell has the deal with the NFL and all the college kids (and high school kids) like to wear the same thing they wear on Sundays. It's a joke really. But Schutt just got Reggie Bush to be a spokesman for them because he wore Schutt helmets all through high school and college, so that should help. Plus, some of the pros are now wearing the new Ion helmets that Schutt is just now coming out with, and if they are well-received, who knows.

If you notice Penn State is 100% Schutt DNA helmets...they won't promote this for legal reasons but they did their own test on a bunch of helmets and they found the Schutt DNA to be the most shock resistant. I think there is another school who is 100% DNA too...I can't remember which...West Virginia maybe? I'll ask Bill. Also, those are the helmets used by the Arena League too.

In any case, with the prominance of concussions in the NFL, you'd think they'd make Riddell put up or shut up about their crappy helmets. But Riddell is shaking in their boots about this new Ion helmet...it's badass...but knowing them, they'll pilfer the technology and come out with their own piece of crap version and the NFL will buy it because it's Riddell.

Oh well.

very interesting. i assumed that the colleges were switching ot the new helmets because they were proven far safer than the old ones. i think the new ones look rather goofy, but that's just me.

I've also noticed this. It seems that ever since Everet's helmet came off in the NC game, there sure are a lot of others flying off during game time this year.

Good info Mom7. Because of Bill's and your business, I'm more aware about the helmet issue. I wish I had known more about it when Robby was playing football in hs. He had 2 BAD concussions.....loss of memory, throwing up, hospital, etc. He played linebacker and he used to really hit, but after the second concussion, he said he just never felt like he could hit like he used too.

neither helmet is going to help prevent concussions....they'll happen no matter what

neither helmet is going to help prevent concussions....they'll happen no matter what

I think they'll help prevent them, rad...but you're right in that they won't completely eliminate them.

they are like a seatbelt in a car. they help, but if you slam into somethign at 60mph, not much is going to help.

however, if someone is wearing a helmet and yours comes off.....better block off a few days if you take a shot.

on a serious note - do you think if they banned helmets altogether, players would be more cognizant of protecting their heads, not play as recklessly which will indirectly improve on the amount of concussion cases they now endure?

i think when guys are playing for millions of dollars they are going to be pretty damn reckless, even without the safety of helmets.

and a big problem is that you can only protect against certain types of hits to the head. i think there would be too many incidental head hits to make the increased consciousness of players make a huge dent in injuries, IMO.

but i'm not a doctor and i've never played one on tv.
















only with the cute neighbor. (my cheap joke for the day)

neither helmet is going to help prevent concussions....they'll happen no matter what

I think they'll help prevent them, rad...but you're right in that they won't completely eliminate them.

Correct Ihate...i will say that almost everytime I see one fly off it's a Revolution which is one of those ones that Urap mentions look kind of weird. That is the complaint of most players and coaches and they don't like the look of the DNA for the same reason. Which is why Schutt is taking the safety features of their top-of-the-line DNA and putting it into the popular Air Advantage...that should make a lot of people happy because it will be a smaller shell without all the futuristic looks but will have the comfort and safety of the newer DNA's. I don't know if Riddell is doing the same thing, but it wouldn't surprise me if they do.

Also remember that these doods sometimes have a ton of dreads under their helmets, making the fit rather "challenging"...that can sometimes be the problem as well.

i would venture a guess that dreaded guys lose their helmets much more often than guys with a less pronounced hairstyle.

on a serious note - do you think if they banned helmets altogether, players would be more cognizant of protecting their heads, not play as recklessly which will indirectly improve on the amount of concussion cases they now endure?

Similiar to rugby? Marty's cousin played rugby.....brutal!

difference in rugby and american football is that there are more violent head on collisions, and in rugby, the majority of contact is in scrums, wich are brutal, but do not have collisions, instead it's guys locked together to move a pile, with a shit ton of nasty stuff going on.

you're more likely to have an ear ripped off than get a concussion in rugby.

there really isn't a sport i can think of that has so many collisions with guys running directly at each other that inevitably ends in one guy trying to bring down their oponent.