“Any concussion is a concussion too many.” — Roger Staubach, for Vicis
The game of football is inherently dangerous, and concussions are prevalent for those who play the game at a high level. A new company, Vicis, aims to end concussions in football and has developed an incredible new football helmet that the developers hope could do just that.
They liken the helmets currently being used across all platforms to 1970s automobiles, which were hardly safe. Then the automobile industry started getting sued and realized a change was needed.
“Crumple zones, Air bags, crash detection. We’re fully okay with sacrificing an entire automobile to save the passengers. If you compare the innovation in the automotive industry with innovation in football helmets, we’re way behind. They’re basically like cars from the 70s. A hard shell, padding on the inside — good luck,” Rich Curren, design director at Vicis says.
Indeed. In a side-by-side comparison, featuring the Vicis football helmet against the current technology being used, there is a stark difference. The Vicis football helmet squishes and splays out, absorbing the impact, while the current helmets being used resembles a rock being cracked on the concrete, relatively speaking.
Already, Staubach, Tony Dorsett and Seattle Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin are on board with this helmet design. No doubt, we’ll see more prominent athletes getting involved as things move along.
Obviously, a huge issue when considering the act of proliferating this helmet design, which has implemented all the latest technological advances, is going to be the price.
It’s hard to imagine the average U.S. household will have the kind of cash to spend for their son or daughter to play in pee-wee, Jr. high or high school. But as with all new things, that price will inevitably fall to a reasonable level after a while.
In the meantime, colleges, universities and pro teams would have no excuse to not spend the cash.