NFL Discovers Innovative Ways to Prevent Future Concussions

ANHAYTE GUAJARDO
Staff Writer

Professional football is the one of the most popular sports in the United States, but there are increasing concerns behind the scenes.
The sport has been known to lead to long-term physical damages, such as concussions. Although brain injuries have long been accepted in the hard-hitting world of football, the National Football League (NFL) has recently announced its partnership with the National Institutes of Health to produce new technology for helmets in order to reduce injuries for football players, claims The Washington Post.
“Helmets are supposed to prevent catastrophic brain injuries, like hemorrhages. They do a good job of that, but we need a helmet that does that as well as prevent concussions,” chair of NFL Subcommittee on Safety Equipment and Playing Rules Kevin Guskiewicz said in an interview with National Geographic.
According to National Geographic, the NFL is funding a yearlong project to place sensors in the helmet, the helmet mouthpiece and the center of the head padding to approximate the G-force and impact that must be absorbed during a game.
In order to produce these helmets, the NFL enlisted the U.S. Army to “[place] tens of thousands of sensors […] in the helmets to measure the forces exerted on their heads,”, according to National Geographic.
“Accurate sensors that measure impacts in real time would be a big advancement in head-trauma protection,” U.S. Army’s product manager Lieutenant Colonel Frank Lozano said in an interview with National Geographic.
Slamming and shaking against the skull can also lead to brain damages. Xenith, a company dedicated to health and safety in sports through innovation and education, has developed a new product called the Xenith X1 football helmet. According to Xenith.com, the Xenith X1 football helmet comes with a ‘Fit Seeker’ that “helps keep the helmet secure during all impacts experienced on the field”. This new helmet is also created with a ‘Shock Bonnet’, which is a shock absorber that releases air when the helmet faces impact to prevent the head from rapid movement. National Geographic also states that if a helmet can absorb more energy from an impact, a lesser amount of energy will be absorbed by the brain.
“I’ve never had a concussion playing [football] but I know someone who did and had to be taken out of the game,”AHS varsity kicker Joshua Divila said. “I think more padding will help prevent concussions.”