Smash Notes
Football Helmets
Episodes
Notes
99% Invisible · The Problem With Football Helmets
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Why Do Football Helmets Hide Who Gets Hurt?
A no-helmet idea holds that without helmets, players would be a lot more cautious with hits. They would not lead with the head. The first hit would break a nose and put stitches in the face, and players would start keeping the head. One grim benefit is that fans would see injuries play out in real time. Football helmets hide players' faces and make it possible for fans to disconnect from the consequences of violent hits. Fans thrill to the exploits, but they do not know the faces. Roman Mars says he thinks there is less appreciation for the full humanity of the athletes, because the eyes are the window to the soul.
Defenders of football say that today players know what they are getting into
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Why Did Ernie Pelton's Jury Want Simpson's Signature?
Roman Mars says an 18 year old named Ernie Pelton suffered a terrible injury that left him paralyzed. His family sued Rawlings, the helmet manufacturer, for damages. The jury ended up finding that the manufacturer was not responsible.
The case went to court in 1970. During the case, Rawlings pulled out all the stops. One of the legal arguments was that Ernie Pelton had been hit in the chin or somewhere else, so the family could not blame the helmet, because the blow was not a part of his head the helmet was protecting. Rawlings was making all kinds of arguments. To really push the case over the top, Rawlings brought in a star witness, somebody whose good judgment was universally respected,
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Why Did Plastic Football Helmets Make Football More Violent?
Roman Mars says early leather football helmets were hard and rigid like a shoe. They beat a bare head, but multiple players still died when a hit caved the skull in. The leather was not strong enough, the skull broke, and bone poked into the brain. Bone in the brain could be almost instantly fatal, so leather was not a permanent solution and the plastic helmet entered the picture.
The first plastic helmets came in the late 1930s from a company called Riddell. Founder John Riddell fabricated helmets for the American military during World War II. When the war ended, the company went back to football helmets made from a plastic compound called Tenite: a round, hard dome with a chin strap. They
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Why Do Football Players Mock the Guardian Cap?
Roman Mars says the Guardian Cap is meant to absorb the impact of headshots and protect players' brains from concussions. Most NFL players are required to wear the caps during practices, and some wear them in NFL games. Since the caps arrived, players who wear them have taken a ton of mockery, and players are not embracing the cap.
The caps make helmets look bulbous and disproportionate, so professional athletes look like human bobbleheads. Fans say the head is huge and looks like the great Gazoo. Players complain about sacrificing swagger for safety. A Philadelphia Eagles star made fun of the Guardian Cap at practice by covering his head in bubble wrap. Other players have said they have no