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National Football League Launches Challenge to Improve Facemasks and Reduce Concussions (cnn.com) 61

Posted by EditorDavid from the facemasking dept.
As Super Bowl Sunday comes to a close, America's National Football League "is challenging innovators to improve the facemask on football helmets to reduce concussions in the game," reports the Associated Press: The league announced on Friday at an innovation summit for the Super Bowl the next round in the HealthTECH Challenge series, a crowdsourced competition designed to accelerate the development of cutting-edge football helmets and new standards for player safety. The challenge invites inventors, engineers, startups, academic teams and established companies to improve the impact protection and design of football helmets through improvements to how facemasks absorb and reduce the effects of contact on the field...

Most progress on helmet safety has come from improvements to the shell and padding, helping to reduce the overall rate of concussions. Working with the helmet industry, the league has brought in position-specific helmets, with those for quarterbacks, for example, having more padding in the back after data showed most concussions for QBs came when the back of the head slammed to the turf. But the facemask has mostly remained the same. This past season, 44% of in-game concussions resulted from impact to the player's facemask, up from 29% in 2015, according to data gathered by the NFL. "What we haven't seen over that period of time are any changes of any note to the facemask," [said Jeff Miller, the NFL's executive vice president overseeing player health and safety]... "Now we see, given the changes in our concussion numbers and injuries to players, that as changes are made to the helmet, fewer and fewer concussions are caused by hits to the shell, and more and more concussions as a percentage are by hits to the facemask..."

Selected winners will receive up to $100,000 in aggregate funding, as well as expert development support to help move their concepts from the lab to the playing field.
Winners will be announced in August, according to the article, "and Miller said he expected helmet manufacturers to start implementing any improvements into helmets soon after that."
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National Football League Launches Challenge to Improve Facemasks and Reduce Concussions More

National Football League Launches Challenge to Improve Facemasks and Reduce Concussions

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  • SEA (Score:2, Interesting)

    by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 )

    HAWKS!!!

  • Right, right. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by fuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 ) on Monday February 09, 2026 @02:04AM (#65977030) Journal
    The NFL has been pretending to care about concussions more or less as long as I can remember; and I'm north of 40 at this point. I suppose it's marginally less pathetic than their "no, of course constant head trauma has no neurological effect whatsoever" stance; but it's still desperately hard to take seriously.
    • Felt the same way when they were milking the Pat Tilman tribute to death. Everything about the NFL is about preserving their image so they can make money.
      • It was never meant to be a game... Rollerball (1975 film). Player injuries were a given. I don't watch NFL but I have watched this movie several times.

        Every month the plot becomes more and more believe able.

        • They've pussified the game too much for me...

          That stupid new "kickeoff' rule where everyone stands still till the ball is caught...fuck that.

          And now...no surprise onsides kicks?

          Call me when they put real kickoffs back in the NFL.

          • They've pussified the game too much for me..Call me when they put real kickoffs back in the NFL.

            Call me when litigators stop holding the concept of at-risk competition for ransom.

            We KNOW who fucks up risk in society. And why. Stop pretending we have some other entity to blame.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by blowdog ( 993153 )

      I agree, Rugby took it seriously, conducted research made changes, Player are taken off the field and giving medical checks for suspected concussion, tackles that were standard are now banned,

      The NFL's we'll just ignore it and keep making money attitude has been disgraceful. The research from Rugby found that helmets make things worse because players see it as protection from concussions and do harder tackles.

      • Player are taken off the field and giving medical checks for suspected concussion, tackles that were standard are now banned,

        The NFL's we'll just ignore it

        The NFL has mandatory injury checks (including for concussion) and banned dangerous types of tackles also.

    • Came here to say pretty much the same thing. They want to make billions of dollars from having 300+ lb men not only crashing into each other but learning to crash into each other the HARDEST! How cute that they try to pretend they care about the health of those men.

    • Re:Right, right. (Score:5, Informative)

      by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Monday February 09, 2026 @09:48AM (#65977440) Journal
      The NFL has made major rule changes over the years to avoid concussions.

      For example, here are the rule changes that show proper tackling technique of the QB [youtube.com]. I think even a non-player can tell the difference.

    • The NFL has been pretending to care about concussions more or less as long as I can remember; and I'm north of 40 at this point. I suppose it's marginally less pathetic than their "no, of course constant head trauma has no neurological effect whatsoever" stance; but it's still desperately hard to take seriously.

      If you were to add up all of the money spent on the development of safety for this game, you’ll find the millions spent wasn’t playing around. Send a modern freak of nature onto the field today wearing OG leather helmets and we’d be discussing the problem of in-game deaths in this sport. Not merely damage after the fact.

      Manage and mitigate the risk for an entire industry where grown ass men with college degrees volunteer to step onto a field looking like a fucking gladiator going into ba

      • There was a period where in-game deaths were football's big problem(especially because it was an Ivy League game at the time; and the sons of people who mattered kept dying). Then-president Roosevelt personally stepped in to try to clean things up enough to avoid a ban; which gives you a sense of how long they've been at this.

        • There was a period where in-game deaths were football's big problem(especially because it was an Ivy League game at the time; and the sons of people who mattered kept dying). Then-president Roosevelt personally stepped in to try to clean things up enough to avoid a ban; which gives you a sense of how long they've been at this.

          Been “at” this? When was the last in-game death? How frequent are they now compared to even 30 years ago, much less Roosevelts time?

          Its a dangerous sport. Someone who matters is always at risk. If you want to eliminate that risk, tell the bloodthirsty crowd full of hypocrites cheering for their gladiators in the modern colosseums to take up fucking checkers instead.

    • The NFL has been pretending to care about concussions more or less as long as I can remember; and I'm north of 40 at this point.

      Same here and I am pushing 69.

      Better late than never.

    • The real crime is calling this game "football"

  • Evil kinetic energy (Score:3, Funny)

    by lxnt ( 98232 ) on Monday February 09, 2026 @02:38AM (#65977048) Homepage

    They should introduce speed limits of about 3mph. And switch from helmets to bowler hats.

    • Knocking your heads aginst each other at 4.8 km/h can still give you a concussion, I think.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      They should introduce speed limits of about 3mph. And switch from helmets to bowler hats.

      What you need are stovepipe hats and pipes... at least that will give them something to do whilst the game constantly stops, those that don't smoke can point their pipes at the umpire and say "and another thing, sir".

      Or just start playing Aussie Rules Football without helmets and armour.

  • Helmets soft on the OUTSIDE have been well proven to be more effective.

  • There's only so much you can do with helmets to make the game safer. Per TFS, I do see an opportunity with facemasks, if they can be made more shock-absorbing. But I wonder if such changes would just encourage more aggressive contact that nullifies the advantage. Rule-changes might be needed to keep that from happening.

    Last year I remember watching the Grey Cup (the equivalent of the SuperBowl for Canadian football) and seeing several players wearing an additional padded cover over their helmets. It looked

    • Change to Eton Rules.

    • Re:Maybe change the rules also? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Luckyo ( 1726890 ) on Monday February 09, 2026 @04:19AM (#65977112)

      If I remember history of this one correctly, American Football didn't originally have the current head banging style of play, because helmets were initially not used at all, and when they came, they were primitive.

      As protective gear got better, it led to goal oriented to athletes aimed at winning to play in ways that new protective gear enables them to play. I.e. better helmets = more banging heads together.

      The one thing that will work is rule change. But rule changes always carry a risk of losing a lot of audience that will find the game after rule change to be too boring to watch.

      And ultimately, top tier sports are all about what spectators want. Athletes at that level are ultimately selling a service.

      • The rule changes have already happened. Head-to-head contact is illegal in the NFL. Hardly any spectators noticed, and fewer cared.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

          Considering that complaints and studies continue, has that change been meaningful or a dead letter of the rules that are interpreted in a way that doesn't meaningfully reduce the problem?

          • It seems to be meaningful. Players who get a concussion will be removed from the game, and not allowed to return. If a star player gets a concussion, that has a huge effect. In games in the 90s, you could see helmet to helmet hits on almost every play (I did hear one person complain that in modern football you don't hear the crack of helmets, but that was hard to hear on TV and that person is still watching). Players have had to completely learn new technique for tackling that doesn't involve using your he

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

              That sounds like a set of good changes then. Walking the tightrope of "keep the sport interesting and audience engaged while maintaining the spirit of the thing while keeping it acceptably safe" in the world when we value life and health much higher and have much lower risk tolerance is difficult.

              Props to people responsible if they managed it for American Football. I've seen much worse results of trying to integrate those very social trends in other sports.

              • I think the main motivation is fear of lawsuits from future retired players if they don't take it seriously, and secondly the players union does have actual power. I'm interested in what other sports have tried making it safer with worse (or better) results.

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

                  Ice hockey immediately comes to mind as an example. Everything from evolution of protective gear to rule changes regarding things like tackles to the head.

  • How about disincentives to injure other players (Score:5, Insightful)

    by tdelaney ( 458893 ) on Monday February 09, 2026 @03:04AM (#65977060)

    There are lots of games that use an oval ball and don't wear helmets. All of those have made major moves over the last decades to reduce the likelihood of concussions by making certain moves illegal in the game, with significant penalties. Spear tackles, grabbing around the neck, dumping people head first, slamming the back of the head into the turf, etc.

    So why doesn't American football do the same? Penalties can be percentage of salary, reduction of team salary caps, etc to take into account the ridiculous money involved esp. with some players.

    • There are lots of games that use an oval ball and don't wear helmets. All of those have made major moves over the last decades to reduce the likelihood of concussions by making certain moves illegal in the game, with significant penalties. Spear tackles, grabbing around the neck, dumping people head first, slamming the back of the head into the turf, etc.

      So why doesn't American football do the same?

      What exactly are you talking about? All those things ("Spear tackles, grabbing around the neck, dumping

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Ogive17 ( 691899 )
      The "slamming the head on the turf" is related to how players fall when they are tackled. They aren't talking WWE style throws.

      We had my son taking Judo classes for a couple years. One of the first things they teach in Judo is how to fall properly (chin to chest) to avoid hitting the back of your head on the mat. One QB recently took classes similar to that after having a couple concussions related to hitting the turf. There was nothing wrong with the tackles, his head just snapped back.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      There are lots of games that use an oval ball and don't wear helmets. All of those have made major moves over the last decades to reduce the likelihood of concussions by making certain moves illegal in the game, with significant penalties. Spear tackles, grabbing around the neck, dumping people head first, slamming the back of the head into the turf, etc.

      This phenomena is called "risk compensation". As the perception of safety grows, people tend to take more risks. We see it all the time when new safety measures are introduced but the most famous example are cars. When the seatbelt was made mandatory people started driving faster and more dangerously than before because, this paid off because the benefit of seatbelts outweighed the additional risk. If we all wore helmets and HANS devices like they do in professional racing, we'd be able to do 150 MPH and su

  • Every player is just remote controlling a robot, so any injuries are just remedied by spare parts up to and including the entire robot - no injuries to the player at all! The next step is to replace the players with AI. Super bowl 70 - OpenAI vs Anthropic!

  • Going in the wrong direction (Score:4, Insightful)

    by battingly ( 5065477 ) on Monday February 09, 2026 @04:15AM (#65977110)

    If you want to reduce concussions, eliminate helmets. All that has been accomplished with helmet improvements is players use their heads increasingly as battering rams.

    • I'm thinking lots and lots of bubble wrap.

    • Reminds me of something I've read: boxing with gloves is massively more dangerous than bare-knuckle boxing. Normally, punching someone's face with full power will also wreck your hand. Gloves remove this drawback, and thus lead to many more cases of severe brain damage.

    • Using a helmet as a battering ram is absolutely illegal in the NFL. https://operations.nfl.com/the... [nfl.com]

      • In their video most the fouls are double fouls ... the rule is a lame duck.

      • That's the NFL's solution to everything: make a rule that is complicated, ambiguous, and unenforceable. Predictably, that kind of rule never fixes the problem.

    • In the pre-helmet days there were a lot fewer concussions, but a lot more skull fractions (and deaths). There was a time when an on-field death was at least an annual occurrence.

      • The only report of an on-field death I can find in NFL history was in 1971, which was a heart attack.

        • This is WAY before the NFL. In 1904-1905 alone there were over 40 players who died playing college football.

  • Consider making helmets (and other impact-related personal equipment) highly effective, cheap, and one-time-use only. Sort of like bicycle helmets that break upon use by design. But cheap enough that it wouldnâ(TM)t matter if you put on a new helmet every single play. Maybe it changes color frankly when damaged enough to need to doff/don. But can it be made in such a way that players/organizations/the public accepts the look of these cheap-yet-effective helmets? Makes me think of the under-handed free

    • Alternatively, make them active. Collapsible airpockets allow more distance for deceleration than any type of reusable foam too, but can reinflate after impact.

        • On second thought, not as easy as I thought. Making a reusable and reliable overpressure valve is hard and simply having an air pocket without a valve doesn't increase the distance available to decelerate compared to simple closed cell foam (though it can improve fit, which is probably the main reason the Paxron helmet helps).

          This is why they tried airbag tech, an electronic fill valve is easier to make reliable and the airbag is simply porous so it can very reliably fully deflate.

          https://www.youtube.com/wa [youtube.com]

  • Put WD40 on the helmets' front guards. Boom. Tell me I'm not within budget!

  • So if concussions are harder to get, the players will just HIT EACH OTHER HARDER. This isn't some secret. The athletes, coaches, owners have collectively decided that the current level of brain damage is OK. This will not change anything. So is boxing still a sport? How long until we get the Rollerball spiked fist to back of the neck.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by whitroth ( 9367 )

      Unfortunately, you've got that dead right.

      Long ago, I was in the SCA, and fought heavy. Then we started getting what we called "rhinohiders" - "oh, that wasn't hard enough to get through my armor". I finally quit - it wasn't being fun or skill any more.

      My interest in sports approaches zero as a limit, except for two: boxing and American football, which are both blood sports. For them, it's in negative numbers.

  • If you are dressed up like a tank you will play the game like a tank. I do watch the NFL and my favorite team, and just like most viewers I kind of like the current game play. But when running backs are often trucking defenders with their helmet it looks bad to then say don't lead with the helmet when they never flag the penalty on the running back.

  • I've noticed the occasional hugely padded helmet on the field, I suspect for use by players with previous concussions.
    And I wonder why, if these padded helmets improve safety for the wearer, why isn't every player using them?

  • Why not change the rules to make pointless impact a major offence? If you stop the intentional head smashing, the current helmets are fine. The issue with American Football is the senseless high-speed and high force impacts.

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