New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady recently found confetti from this past year's Super Bowl in his helmet. He should probably just put that helmet back in his place as a keepsake, because he won't be wearing it anymore.
According to Kevin Seifert of ESPN NFL Nation, Brady is one of 32 players who was wearing a helmet in 2018 that is now banned by the league. If Brady or any of the other 31 players are caught wearing their banned helmets this coming season, they will be subject to league discipline.
The move comes with the NFL trying to invent better headgear across the board.
“One of the most exciting things is seeing how our years of testing protocol is really driving innovation,” said NFLPA engineering consultant Dr. Kristy Arbogast. “You can see when you see the poster that many of the new helmets that are being introduced to the market are top performers. And so I think through the perspective of the players, it's phenomenal that we are driving innovation and we are driving design to release products that perform better on the field.”
This past season, around half of the players in the league changed to a better helmet, and by the final week of the regular season, 74 percent of players were wearing a helmet that ranked in the top category.
“One of the things that prevented some players from moving might have been about comfort or fit or aesthetics of the helmet, not necessarily the safety,” said Dr. Jeff Crandall, chairman of the NFL's engineering committee. “But there is a wide number of [approved helmets] that are comparable in the aesthetics now. We're optimistic that this will lead to a migration of folks.”
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