A football helmet is a type of protective headgear used mainly in gridiron football, although a structural variation has occasional use in Australian rules football. It consists of a hard plastic shell with thick padding on the inside, a face mask made of one or more plastic-coated metal bars, and a chinstrap. Each position has a different type of face mask to balance protection and visibility, and some players add polycarbonate visors to their helmets, which are used to protect their eyes from glare and impacts. Helmets are a requirement at all levels of organized football, except for non-tackle variations such as flag football. Although they are protective, players can and do still suffer head injuries such as concussions.
There are a large number of health risks associated with participating in American football. Injuries are relatively common, due to its nature as a full-contact game, and may occur during both games and practice. Several factors can affect the frequency of injuries: epidemiological studies have shown older players can be at a greater risk, while equipment and experienced coaches can reduce the risk of injury. Common injuries include strains, sprains, fractures, dislocations, and concussions. Concussions have become a concern, as they increase the risk of mental illnesses like dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). In individual leagues like the National Football League (NFL) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a public injury report is published containing all injured players on a team, their injury and the game-day status of each player.
Sean Joseph Morey is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Brown Bears. He was selected by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL draft. Morey also played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals. He won Super Bowl XL with the Steelers against the Seattle Seahawks.
Alan Schwarz is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer and author, formerly at The New York Times, best known for writing more than 100 articles that exposed the National Football League's cover-up of concussions and brought the issue of brain injuries in sports to worldwide attention. His investigative and profile pieces are generally credited with revolutionizing the respect and protocol for concussions in youth and professional athletics. Schwarz's work was profiled in The New Yorker and several films, including the Will Smith movie "Concussion" and the documentaries "Head Games" and PBS Frontline's "League of Denial". The Columbia Journalism Review featured him on the cover of its 2011 Art of Great Reporting issue and wrote of his concussion work, "He put the issue on the agenda of lawmakers, sports leagues, and the media at large — and helped create a new debate about risk and responsibility in sports." The impact of the series was described by Hall of Fame sports writer Murray Chass as "the most remarkable feat in sports journalism history."
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse over time and can result in dementia.
Sports law in the United States overlaps substantially with labor law, contract law, competition or antitrust law, and tort law. Issues like defamation and privacy rights are also integral aspects of sports law. This area of law was established as a separate and important entity only a few decades ago, coinciding with the rise of player-agents and increased media scrutiny of sports law topics.
Bell Sports is an American bicycle, motorcycle and racing helmet manufacturer. The company is a subsidiary of Vista Outdoor. BRG Sports, owner of Riddell football helmets, sold some of its brands to Vista in 2016.
Professionals and amateurs alike wear protective headgear (helmets) to reduce the chance of injury while playing American and Canadian football. The football helmet has changed over time and many different materials have become available. The rules of the game have changed as well.
Second-impact syndrome (SIS) occurs when the brain swells rapidly, and catastrophically, after a person has a second concussion before symptoms from an earlier one have subsided. This second blow may occur minutes, days, or weeks after an initial concussion, and even the mildest grade of concussion can lead to second impact syndrome. The condition is often fatal, and almost everyone who is not killed is severely disabled. The cause of SIS is uncertain, but it is thought that the brain's arterioles lose their ability to regulate their diameter, and therefore lose control over cerebral blood flow, causing massive cerebral edema.
Fenway Partners is an American private equity firm that makes leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in transportation logistics, consumer products, and manufacturing companies in the middle market. In 2002 Fenway acquired the molding equipment and customer base of Premier Tile. The price for the acquisition was $8.25 million. The firm was founded in 1994 by Richard Dresdale and Peter Lamm and has over $2 billion of capital under management. Since its inception, the firm has raised three private equity funds. Fenway's first fund closed on approximately $525 million of capital commitments in 1996 and just two years later, in 1998, the firm raised an additional $900 million of capital. As a result of several investments made in the 1998 fund, before the collapse of the dot-com bubble, performance in that fund was affected. Nevertheless, the firm was able to raise a successor fund in 2006 and 2007 with approximately $700 million of commitments from institutional investors.
Revolution helmets are a line of football helmets produced by Riddell Sports Group. The helmet brand is the most popular model in use in the National Football League, used by 83% of the players in the league as of 2008. The most recent model in the Revolution line is the Speedflex helmet. This model can come equipped with Riddell's HITS Technology, which consists of a sensor in the helmet that relays data regarding the severity of each hit to a computer system. The Speedflex also features a built-in hinged panel located on the front near the top. In head-on collisions, this panel gives by up to a quarter of an inch, helping to absorb the impact.
Helmet-to-helmet collisions are occurrences in gridiron football when two players' football helmets make head-to-head contact with a high degree of force. Intentionally causing a helmet-to-helmet collision is a penalty in most football leagues, including many high school leagues.
Prevention of mild traumatic brain injury involves taking general measures to prevent traumatic brain injury, such as wearing seat belts, using airbags in cars, securing heavy furnitures and objects before earthquake or covering and holding under the table during an earthquake. Older people are encouraged to try to prevent falls, for example by keeping floors free of clutter and wearing thin, flat, shoes with hard soles that do not interfere with balance.
Concussions and play-related head blows in American football have been shown to be the cause of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has led to player deaths and other debilitating symptoms after retirement, including memory loss, depression, anxiety, headaches, stress, and sleep disturbances.
Schutt Sports was a United States company that manufactured protective gear for several sports, focusing on American football, baseball, softball, and lacrosse. Products manufactured by company, headquartered in Litchfield, Illinois, included helmets and other protections such as jockstraps, and shoulder pads. The company also produced American football sportswear including jerseys and pants.
Concussion, a type of mild traumatic brain injury that is caused by a direct or indirect hit to the head, body, or face is a common injury associated with sports and can affect people of all ages. A concussion is defined as a "complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by biomechanical forces". A concussion should be suspected in any person who falls or has a hit to their face or their body and has a visible sign/clue that they may have a concussion or experiences any symptoms of concussion. The Concussion Recognition Tool 6 (CRT6) can be used to help non-medically trained people manage sport related concussion on the sideline to ensure that they are directed to the appropriate care. Symptoms of concussion can be felt right away or appear over the first 1-2 days after an accident. If an athlete has a suspected sport-related concussion they should not return to play that day, not be left alone for the first three hours after their injury, not drive until cleared by a medical professional, and not return to any activity that has a risk of hitting their head or falling until they have a medical assessment. If the person has worsening symptoms or any 'red flag symptoms', they need immediate medical attention. Concussions cannot be seen on X-rays or CT scans.
A sports-related traumatic brain injury is a serious accident which may lead to significant morbidity or mortality. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in sports are usually a result of physical contact with another person or stationary object, These sports may include boxing, gridiron football, field/ice hockey, lacrosse, martial arts, rugby, soccer, wrestling, auto racing, cycling, equestrian, rollerblading, skateboarding, skiing or snowboarding.
Michael Howard Anderson is a former American football player.
Most documented cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy have occurred in many athletes involved in contact sports such as boxing, American football, professional wrestling, ice hockey, mixed martial arts, rugby and soccer. Other risk factors include being in the military, prior domestic violence, and repeated banging of the head. The exact amount of trauma required for the condition to occur is unknown. Below is a list of notable cases of CTE in sports.
Frank Azar is an American personal injury lawyer. He is the founder and president of Franklin D. Azar & Associates P.C, a personal injury law firm based in Colorado.
