How the evolution of football helmets have made the game safer to play

Ah, football (the REAL one, not soccer). The sport that many Americans love immensely, one that is gaining international interest, and perhaps most of all, a game that is very dangerous. The nature of the game is extremely violent, with some of the strongest men on the planet throwing themselves at each other play after play. Due to this, football helmets today have cutting-edge technology that helps keep players safe and play football longer. But helmets weren't always like this; helmets have come a long way since they were first used.

However, before we discuss the evolution of helmets, we need to talk about the brain and how football can pose a risk to the brain.

The brain has 6 parts: the frontal lobe, the parietal lobe, the occipital lobe, the temporal lobe, the cerebellum, and the spinal cord. The frontal lobe is responsible for decision-making and personality, the parietal lobe is responsible for sensory perception, the occipital lobe is responsible for vision, and the temporal lobe deals with auditory-related things and the senses. Additionally, the cerebellum makes sure you walk, talk, and move with precision, and the spinal cord carries signals between your brain and body that enable you to do everything that you do; literally everything. Like EVERYTHING.

Also, damage to these brain structures is pretty bad. Here's what could happen from damage to the different parts of the brain:

• Frontal Lobe: Changes in personality, decision-making, judgment, speech/language problems

• Parietal Lobe: Sensory issues (issues with spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, etc)

• Occipital Lobe: Difficulties with vision, recognizing objects/faces, and perceiving colors/motion

• Temporal Lobe: Issues with long-term memory, language, hearing, and taste/smell.

• Cerebellum: Problems with coordination/balance, eye movements, motor learning, slurred speech, and muscle tremors.

• Spinal Cord: Issues with bladder control, balance, motor function, and possible paralysis.

So, how did football helmets change over time?

We see the first use of helmets in football in leather caps, which were used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These weren't even helmets, however- more or less leather caps. The leather caps had little to no protection, and their primary use was more aesthetics than protection for the head. Since these "helmets" were pretty useless in protecting the head, it wasn't uncommon to hear a football player die of a skull fracture.

After the leather caps, the first true football helmets were introduced, like the leather helmet shown in the picture. While these were designed to help prevent skull fractures, they still weren't very safe helmets to be wearing. While the extra padding somewhat helped with preventing skull fractures, they still posed a huge threat to the head and were useless in preventing concussions or long-term damage, like damaging various parts of the brain, which I outlined the risk of earlier.

Around the mid-20th century, football as a sport shifted from leather helmets to helmets that used a hard, plastic shell. Along with the hard plastic shell, these helmets included more padding and added features like the chinstrap to help the helmet stay on a player's head, and the facemask, which helped to protect the faces of the players. At this time, facemasks usually had only one bar, as the picture shows. With all these added features, helmets brought much more safety to the head when football was played. These new helmets drastically reduced the number of skull fractures that players would suffer, the increased padding helped in shock absorption, and as we mentioned earlier, the one-bar facemask provided some protection to a player's face. However, helmets still had room for improvement.

In the 1970s, football helmets now had full facemasks. Alongside this, more padding was added and the chinstraps were improved to help keep the helmet on the player's head better. With full facemasks being introduced, the face of a player had much better protection. However, the outer shell of the helmet didn't change much, and this was an issue. With all the added padding and the facemask partially restricting fresh airflow, players' heads started to overheat in these helmets. This led to increases in heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and dehydration. So, while the helmets of the 70s brought improvements, they still had a long way to go.

The next biggest innovation in football helmets came in the 1990s. While helmets had the usual improvements in padding, chinstraps, and facemasks, one huge innovation that came out of this new generation of helmets was the introduction of more aerodynamic helmets. Helmet manufacturers made helmets in shapes that would reduce the drag on the helmets, making them feel lighter when a player would run with them. Along with this, football helmets also brought along another key change: better airflow throughout the helmet. As you can see in the image of the Patriots helmet, helmets now had enlarged holes for the ears and holes on the top and sides of the helmet, which resulted in more airflow throughout the helmet and less overheating inside helmets.

In the 2000s, the next major innovation in helmets came in the padding of the helmet. While helmet padding had been steadily increasing in quantity and quality over the years up to this point, helmet padding took a huge step in the 2000s. During this time period, helmets started to use advanced padding technology like adjustable air bladders, EPP (expanded polypropylene), and TPU (thermoplastic urethane). This inclusion of advanced helmet padding greatly helped in the prevention of concussions and skull fractures, making helmets safer than ever before. Along with the massive leap in helmet padding, helmets also saw increased ventilation.

In the 2010s, helmets saw the biggest innovations ever, as the innovations made to football helmets during this decade were more than innovations made to football helmets over the course of history. Firstly, helmets started using different materials than hard plastic, like advanced polycarbonate, carbon fiber/fiberglass compositions, and helmets with a hard outer shell and a softer inside shell. However, the most popular helmet shell material became advanced polycarbonate. This material was lighter than hard plastic, and much better at absorbing impact and distributing force, therefore keeping the heads of football players safer. These new materials also allowed for MIPS (Multi-directional Impact Protection System), which even further increased safety.

And that brings us to today. So far in the 2010s, football helmet technology hasn't changed much, primarily because we are early into the 2020s decade. But looking back, football helmets have changed a lot. They've gone from simple leather caps to complex, state-of-the-art objects that successfully keep football players safe when they play, reducing the chances of short-term and long-term head injuries. And who knows what the future holds? One day, will we have a helmet that gives a 0% chance of having a concussion or head injury? Who knows. But here's to the future of football helmets, where hopefully helmets will get even safer and even more technologically advanced.