(NewsNation) — The NFL and NFL Players Association (NFLPA) announced that this fall, the league will introduce some of the highest-performing helmets they’ve ever tested to further enhance player safety standards.
Over the years, rules changes and technology advancements have been implemented to make football safer. Helmet innovation and reducing head injuries remains a priority for the NFL and NFLPA, the groups say.
The league approved 12 new helmet models eligible for the upcoming season, with five helmets testing “better than any helmet ever worn in the league,” the NFL said in a news release.
It follows a year marked by 219 concussions both during the preseason and regular season, marking the second straight year with more than 200 head injuries.
The new helmets will offer a different feel and appearance, introducing eight new position-specific models.
Recognizing that not all impacts are the same, the NFL emphasized the importance of position-specific helmets to provide optimal protection for various positions. For example, quarterbacks, linebackers and cornerbacks may experience varying levels of impact.
“We’ve developed in conjunction with AWS, a computer vision artificial intelligence model that identifies and helps us count every single impact that players experience on fields,” said Jeff Miller, the executive vice president of NFL player health and safety. “We can use all of that data to better understand what those sorts of impacts are by player by position, by club.”
The companies creating these helmets said they are methodical in their testing, ultimately creating some of the safest helmets to date.
“Copious amounts of impact testing and simulation that are run up against the type of the impacts we see in the NFL — the size of the players, the speed of the players, the environments they play in,” said Nicholas Esayian, the CEO of Light Helmets.
The NFL said six helmets were prohibited for the 2024 season, even though those helmets ranked among the top-performing when first introduced.
“Which is a testament to how helmet performance has increased through the introduction of new, better performing helmets,” the NFL said.