The first quarterback-specific helmet designed to help reduce concussions has been approved for use by the NFL and NFLPA, the AP has learned.
The helmet, manufactured by Vicis, reduces severity of helmet-to-ground impacts, which league data says account for approximately half of quarterback concussions, including the last season when his head slammed violently against the turf during a Thursday night game against Cincinnati.
鈥淲e鈥檝e now analyzed with our engineers and with the Players Association more than a 1,000 concussions on field, we have a pretty good database of how these injuries occur,鈥 NFL executive Jeff Miller told the AP about the helmet-to-ground impacts. 鈥淭his helmet performs better in laboratory testing than any helmets we have ever seen for those sorts of impacts.鈥
The helmet performed 7% better than the most popular helmet worn by quarterbacks last season, the league said in a memo sent to team executives on Thursday.
Jason Neubauer, an executive for Vicis, said the company began designing its Zero2 Matrix QB helmet in early 2022.
鈥淭he unique thing is that it has a deformal outer shell, which means when you take an impact in any location on that helmet, it will deform or basically dent in that location to absorb the impact,鈥 Neubauer said. 鈥淲hat that means for us, as designers or engineers, as we鈥檙e looking to optimize it for different types of impacts, we鈥檙e able to change unique locations to try to optimize the impact mitigation in any one area.鈥
It鈥檚 unknown how many quarterbacks will switch to the new QB-specific helmet. The league and the players鈥 union share information from the helmet studies with teams so players make informed decisions on helmet choice. The only other position-specific helmet already approved is the Vicis Zero2-R Trench for offensive and defensive linemen.
The memo sent to teams also includes the results of the 2023 helmet laboratory testing study. Miller told the AP seven helmets the league highly recommended in 2020 have now been downgraded to prohibited as a result of new testing.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a great sign,鈥 Miller said. 鈥淗opefully we can continue to stimulate that either with position-specific helmets designed for each position group or for a general all-purpose helmet to be able to say to players: 鈥榃ork with us, be willing to change helmets because better and better products are coming online every year.鈥欌
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