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MMQB: The Increasing Importance of the Right Tackle Position
- By LACHAMP46
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 3 Replies
And ....some of you wondered why G-Rob was moved to RT
Need more proof? Check that Falcon game....Vic Beasley turned into LT....the real LT
Need more proof? Check that Falcon game....Vic Beasley turned into LT....the real LT
The safest helmet in football is set to make its NFL debut next season
- By Prime Time
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 46 Replies
To read the whole article click the link below.
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http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/05/31/nfl-quest-better-football-helmet
The Quest for a Better Football Helmet
The game’s health depends on mitigating concussions and trauma caused by subconcussive hits. That’s why the NFL has incentivized the equipment industry with $60 million and called for a better overall helmet within three years, and position-specific helmets within five
by Jenny Vrentas
Courtesy VICIS
Doug Baldwin serves as a player advisor to VICIS, a small helmet company whose Zero1 model received the NFL’s top safety rating
Photo: Courtesy VICIS
Doug Baldwin has worn the same helmet model in each of the past five NFL seasons. When he thinks back to the helmet he first wore, at age 6 in Pensacola, Fla., the Seahawks’ receiver notices one main difference now: more padding.
That’s not to say there haven’t been other steps forward in helmet design over the last 20 years. Schutt, for example, says there used to be three to five years between major helmet launches; that time frame has now shortened to two to three. Newly released helmets continue to outperform previous ones in reducing the forces transferred to the head, but much of the change has been incremental, updating current designs to be slightly better. The need has outpaced the innovation.
“Science and medicine can barely agree on what the definition of a concussion is or how one occurs,” says Glenn Beckmann, director of marketing communications for Schutt, the second-largest provider of NFL helmets. “So it’s a daunting challenge to build a product to standards or ideals that aren’t in existence yet.”
But another factor is the helmet market itself. It’s relatively small, on the order of $100 million, compared to, for example, an auto industry that rakes in $2 trillion in annual revenue. And it’s controlled mainly by two entities, Riddell and Schutt. Insular markets often tend to restrict innovation. For 24 years, the NFL had a licensing agreement with Riddell as the official helmet of the NFL.
Players could wear any helmet of their choosing, but Riddell was the only company whose logo could be displayed. The league ended that arrangement in 2013, eliminating any perception of endorsing one brand over the others. Still, multiple entrepreneurs and small business owners describe the helmet industry as nearly impossible to break into. Rawlings, the major sports equipment manufacturer, re-entered the helmet and shoulder pad business in 2010, only to exit again five years later.
In the annual helmet testing results released by the NFL and the NFLPA for the 2017 season, four manufacturers finished in the top-performing group: Riddell; Schutt; Xenith, a smaller company that broke into the market in 2009; and VICIS, the newest company on the scene.
VICIS’ Zero1 helmet tested the best and is listed as the top-ranked helmet on a poster that will be displayed in all NFL equipment rooms (the performance of the 13 other helmets in the top-performing group was not statistically significantly different).
Photo: Courtesy of VICIS
The concept behind VICIS’ helmet was originally sketched on a napkin by Sam Browd, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Seattle Children’s Hospital who has had to retire young athletes from contact sports because they’ve suffered numerous concussions. About four years ago, he was at a pediatric neurosurgery conference in Hawaii, listening to a presentation on a new foam liner for a football helmet, when he was struck by the idea that such stepwise changes in helmet technology may not be enough.
“This is my opinion: It’s very difficult, when you have an industry that has been going on for decades, to completely blow up your own product and say this is not the right path,” says Browd, who also serves as one of the NFL’s unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants at Seahawks home games. “It’s a very expensive and challenging thing.”
Photo: Courtesy of Schutt
Schutt has introduced the lightest helmet on the market in the last year, and another model uses exterior “Tektonic Plates” that move independently from the rest of the helmet to address rotational forces. “We are driving to innovate as fast as we possibly can, given the state of the research that informs the products,” says Thad Ide, Riddell’s senior vice president of research and product development. “A lot of the research has yet to be done.”
Says VICIS CEO Dave Marver, “The whole NFL grant program in general is a recognition of the fact that it has been a stagnant industry and the pace of innovation has not kept up with the need. The NFL has stepped in and filled an important void.”
VICIS shipped helmets to all 32 NFL equipment rooms a few weeks ago for players to try in OTAs, and Baldwin is one of a handful of Seahawks players who plan to wear the VICIS helmet during the 2017 season. He was introduced to the technology two years ago by the team’s equipment manager, and now serves as a player advisor for the company.
That’s why the helmet matters: It’s the only physical barrier between the brain and the forces that can cause one of the most traumatic injuries in sports. How much more can the helmet do? The NFL is betting $60 million—and much more—on the answer being more than you think.
****************************************
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/05/31/nfl-quest-better-football-helmet
The Quest for a Better Football Helmet
The game’s health depends on mitigating concussions and trauma caused by subconcussive hits. That’s why the NFL has incentivized the equipment industry with $60 million and called for a better overall helmet within three years, and position-specific helmets within five
by Jenny Vrentas
Courtesy VICIS
Doug Baldwin serves as a player advisor to VICIS, a small helmet company whose Zero1 model received the NFL’s top safety rating
Photo: Courtesy VICIS
Doug Baldwin has worn the same helmet model in each of the past five NFL seasons. When he thinks back to the helmet he first wore, at age 6 in Pensacola, Fla., the Seahawks’ receiver notices one main difference now: more padding.
That’s not to say there haven’t been other steps forward in helmet design over the last 20 years. Schutt, for example, says there used to be three to five years between major helmet launches; that time frame has now shortened to two to three. Newly released helmets continue to outperform previous ones in reducing the forces transferred to the head, but much of the change has been incremental, updating current designs to be slightly better. The need has outpaced the innovation.
“Science and medicine can barely agree on what the definition of a concussion is or how one occurs,” says Glenn Beckmann, director of marketing communications for Schutt, the second-largest provider of NFL helmets. “So it’s a daunting challenge to build a product to standards or ideals that aren’t in existence yet.”
But another factor is the helmet market itself. It’s relatively small, on the order of $100 million, compared to, for example, an auto industry that rakes in $2 trillion in annual revenue. And it’s controlled mainly by two entities, Riddell and Schutt. Insular markets often tend to restrict innovation. For 24 years, the NFL had a licensing agreement with Riddell as the official helmet of the NFL.
Players could wear any helmet of their choosing, but Riddell was the only company whose logo could be displayed. The league ended that arrangement in 2013, eliminating any perception of endorsing one brand over the others. Still, multiple entrepreneurs and small business owners describe the helmet industry as nearly impossible to break into. Rawlings, the major sports equipment manufacturer, re-entered the helmet and shoulder pad business in 2010, only to exit again five years later.
In the annual helmet testing results released by the NFL and the NFLPA for the 2017 season, four manufacturers finished in the top-performing group: Riddell; Schutt; Xenith, a smaller company that broke into the market in 2009; and VICIS, the newest company on the scene.
VICIS’ Zero1 helmet tested the best and is listed as the top-ranked helmet on a poster that will be displayed in all NFL equipment rooms (the performance of the 13 other helmets in the top-performing group was not statistically significantly different).
Photo: Courtesy of VICIS
The concept behind VICIS’ helmet was originally sketched on a napkin by Sam Browd, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Seattle Children’s Hospital who has had to retire young athletes from contact sports because they’ve suffered numerous concussions. About four years ago, he was at a pediatric neurosurgery conference in Hawaii, listening to a presentation on a new foam liner for a football helmet, when he was struck by the idea that such stepwise changes in helmet technology may not be enough.
“This is my opinion: It’s very difficult, when you have an industry that has been going on for decades, to completely blow up your own product and say this is not the right path,” says Browd, who also serves as one of the NFL’s unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants at Seahawks home games. “It’s a very expensive and challenging thing.”
Photo: Courtesy of Schutt
Schutt has introduced the lightest helmet on the market in the last year, and another model uses exterior “Tektonic Plates” that move independently from the rest of the helmet to address rotational forces. “We are driving to innovate as fast as we possibly can, given the state of the research that informs the products,” says Thad Ide, Riddell’s senior vice president of research and product development. “A lot of the research has yet to be done.”
Says VICIS CEO Dave Marver, “The whole NFL grant program in general is a recognition of the fact that it has been a stagnant industry and the pace of innovation has not kept up with the need. The NFL has stepped in and filled an important void.”
VICIS shipped helmets to all 32 NFL equipment rooms a few weeks ago for players to try in OTAs, and Baldwin is one of a handful of Seahawks players who plan to wear the VICIS helmet during the 2017 season. He was introduced to the technology two years ago by the team’s equipment manager, and now serves as a player advisor for the company.
That’s why the helmet matters: It’s the only physical barrier between the brain and the forces that can cause one of the most traumatic injuries in sports. How much more can the helmet do? The NFL is betting $60 million—and much more—on the answer being more than you think.
Quinn's New Inspiration!
- By So Ram
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 14 Replies
I think it will make it a lot harder for Quinn to bet held!The question is will it make it easier for ref's to call "Holding" against his opponents!?!
Come on Dave ! Nice article though.
What are Quinn's responsibilities going to be ? How much does that change things ? Will it be harder from a LT to get a hold of him ? I saw a photo how he beat Whitworth bad.
I think watching his interview with Demarco Farr showed his passion to be successful. He is humble & hungry.
You can tell he is 15#'a light. He said he wants to keep his weight down , but said his strength is coming back.
If you want to know what might bring out holding calls ? Maybe his speed & size , & not having as much containment responsibilitys.
The Designer's Corner
So it's been awhile since I've done some dedicated Deadstock "BatBoy" stuff. BatBoy is a character of my brand in which I do illustrations of him playing sports, or doing things related to how I'm feeling. This one was a sketch I had drawn awhile back but never fully illustrated out
Ranking this millennium's 17 quarterback draft classes
- By TK42-RAM
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 8 Replies
I used to love the old Football Digest magazines -- we didn't get much NFL news down here and I used to request it from my local Newsagent. I probably have 50 of those things in a box somewhere at home.
OTA One-On-One with Rams OL Jamon Brown –Video
- By DaveFan'51
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 1 Replies
Nice, insightful interview! But to be Honest I just tune in to see " Dani's New Hair color" Ha Ha ! It's a lot lighter in color than the original still photos of her color change! Looks great to me!
