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An expanded Web version of segments seen on CNN Search goes on for safer football helmets
January 2, 1998
Helmets protect the body's most vulnerable area
Web posted at: 2:24 p.m. EST (1924 GMT)From Correspondent Dan Ronan
SALEM, Illinois (CNN) -- The football played in the United States today is a different game than the one that made its U.S. debut in the mid-1800s.
In its infancy, the game resembled soccer -- the "football" played in the rest of the world.
By the early 1900s, the game had evolved to one resembling rugby and consisted of mostly running, blocking and tackling.
The game had grown increasingly violent, but clothing provided little protection. Players didn't even wear helmets. By 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt urged changes in the rules to make football a safer game. Helmets wouldn't become required athletic gear for some 30 more years.
Watch Dan Ronan's report as seen on CNN
2 min. 15 sec. VXtreme video
These days, football players are outfitted in shoulder pads and high-tech helmets. But from high schools to professional teams, football players are faster, bigger and stronger than ever before. And with today's multimillion dollar salaries, the players have even more incentive to put their all into every hit.
Broken bones can end a player's career, but more often they mend, and the player returns to the field. But what about injuries to the body's most vulnerable area -- the head?
"Today's helmets are of a really high quality, the best that's ever been made," Dr. Herbert Haupt of the Health South Surgical Center in St. Louis, Missouri, told CNN. "They really do a nice job as long as they're proper quality and worn properly."
Manufacturing head protection
The blue air bladder inside the helmet allows player to customize the fit Twenty years ago, nearly a dozen companies made football helmets. But liability lawsuits from injured players drove all but two helmet makers out of business -- Riddell and Schutt Sporting Goods.
Schutt, in Salem, Illinois, makes about 75 percent of the helmets used by college teams and 30 percent of the helmets used by pro teams. Schutt is a family-owned company that got its start by designing the first athletic face masks in the 1950s.
All Schutt helmets begin as small plastic pellets that are molded into a hardened shell. Padding and face masks are added later in the process.
Schutt air helmets also contain a blue air bladder inside so that players can customize the fit. Schutt's president, Julie Nimmons, says the air bladder allows a player to get a comfortable yet tight fit. (
145K/12 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)
Helmets can now absorb about 20 percent more energy than they could even five years ago, thanks to technological developments in padding.
What does the future hold?
Energy distribution may be key to technological developments in the coming century.
"(Some researchers) are still trying to attach the helmet to the shoulder pads to transfer the energy," according to Larry Maddox, who directs research at Parkview Manufacturing. (
All helmets must bear a seal indicating they meet minimum safety requirements before they can be used.
Safety researchers test football helmets under a variety of conditions, in order to simulate the wide range of game conditions the equipment will be used in.
Some helmets are even put inside refrigerators for hours at a time to see how they will perform in cold weather.
Even with the improving helmet technology, doctors say the number of concussions in both the college and pro ranks is on the rise.
Increased medical knowledge, and improved technology helps doctors better identify head injuries. Doctors say they can now identify concussions they easily would have missed as recently as 10 years ago.
But are players good about staying out of the game until they are completely healed? Not necessarily, experts say.
"If someone is experiencing these symptoms of a concussion, they need to get out of the game or they're putting their lives in jeopardy," Nimmons told CNN.
Experts suggest the high costs of liability litigation, insurance, and research and development will probably preclude any major changes in helmet technology in the coming century.
Next week:
The future of work. Author/Futurist Arnold Brown looks ahead toward the workplace of the 21st century.
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