Why Do Football Players Need To Be Re-Engineered?

On top of the off the field work that the NFL and other organizations do to protect the players, they also implement controls on the field to help prevent concussions. These controls are in the form of penalties. Penalties are determined by the refs and impact the offending team negatively, and if a penalty is bad enough a player can be ejected from the game. This is done in order to change the way the players play. An example of one of these penalties is a flag for helmet-to-helmet contact. Players have a horrible habit of leading with their heads when making a tackle and one of the most dangerous hits in football is when two players heads collide. This hit results in a high number of concussions due to its direct force and the fact that it
The biggest change that can be made it the way we teach young players how to play the game. Teaching players, especially young kids, proper tackling form makes a big difference in the positions that put their heads in. However, football is a reactive game, so matter how much someone is taught instincts take over and accidents happen. Therefore, the way the equipment is made needs to be re-engineered. By changing the material used in helmets and how they are built we can do two things: stop the helmet from being used as a weapon and reduce impact hits have to the head. First, by changing to a material that isn’t as hard players will be less likely to use the helmet as a weapon. Because the helmet is so tough, players lower their head in order to deliver a high impact hit, known as spearing. This cannot only hurt themselves, but other players as well. Second, by changing the way the helmet is made we can reduce impact that the head takes. Whether this has to do with using a material that will absorb the blow or building a helmet to stabilize the head, a helmet needs to be designed to help reduce the