Football Helmet Safety

Football Helmet Safety History, science, momentum, present and future. The NFL may be the most dangerous sport to play in the United States. I mean, where else do two people that can run at speeds of 30 miles an hour, hit each other head on going full speed? Nowhere. The game of football, especially at the higher levels, is becoming increasingly dangerous as the athletes keep getting bigger, faster, and stronger. Until a couple years ago the research of concussion and helmet safety have both been on hold.
The league has been around for a long time and the safety regulations have improved drastically. In the 1920’s all the way through the 1940’s the game of football was played with forms of leather helmets. These styles of head protectors provided almost zero percent increase in head protection. Finally in the 50’s and 60’s the recognizable plastic helmet was introduced. The real breakthrough was when the company Riddell appeared in the 70’s. They added air in the padded helmets to reduce impact. Riddell has been the leader in helmet safety ever since. Through the 2000s and the present there have been helmets made specifically to reduce the chances of getting a concussion. Concussion research was practically unknown and frowned upon until recently. Over the past couple of years the NFL has cracked down on head injuries and have put in place new rules/ regulations to prevent them. There has been a ton of research done on head injuries and helmets. Basically, researchers have found that the problem is getting the helmet to absorb the impact given to the helmet. There needs to be material that can do this while not having very much of it at all. The concussions are cause when the helmet is hit, and the head is smacked to the other side of the helmet. The momentum and transferring of the momentum of the hitting player to the receiving player’s brain is what needs to be reduced. Either before the momentum hits the head/brain, or the head/brain needs to have a