The very company that is taking a lot of heat, and lawsuits, these days has introduced a radically new football helmet with some very special features. In the past couple of years the issue of concussions suffered by NFL and college football players has come to the attention of the public.
The issue has been there for years. In the old days players just figured that concussions were a ‘part of the game’. You got your ‘bell rung’ from time to time but that was just part of the job. Now we are finding out that many great NFL stars suffered greatly from concussions and they suffered silently.
Fortunately that has all changed now and intensive efforts are being made to minimize the risk of head injuries as part of the game of football. New rules are in place regulating where and how a defensive player may hit the guy with the ball.
And now some progress has been made in the area of equipment. The Riddell Corporation, one of the largest and oldest manufacturers of sporting equipment has come out with a new football helmet which is aimed at reducing the risk of concussion.
The NFL Commissioner’s office and the headquarters for the NCAA are both addressing the issue of concussions. Mostly, it seems, because of the many lawsuits against them by current and former players seeking dispensation for the injuries they suffered on the playing field.
So now the Riddell Company has come out with a new helmet called the SpeedFlex Helmet and the InSite Response System. The SpeedFlex will reduce the risk of trauma to the head area by dispersing energy while the InSite is the electronics part of the package will alert trainers and coaches when a player receives a significant blow to the head or even a series of smaller hits.
As suggested by its name, the SpeedFlex Helmet has some flexible parts and builds on the technology of previous attempts to make a better hat for football. The flex is there in an attempt to reduce the impact force transfer to the players head area. Even the facemask will flex to a degree.
Based on player input, the SpeedFlex will also incorporate a new chin strap design aimed at making it easier to adjust for every play. There is also a special inner liner for the helmet which will conform to each players head for a better and more comfortable fit.
