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NFL/NFLPA release helmet testing results, 10 models now prohibited


Woz

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37 minutes ago, Broncofan said:

Given some of the helmets have distinctive face mask patterns I wonder how the blinding was done.   

Biokinetics does a ton of work for the police and military as well as sports

http://www.biokinetics.com/

http://www.biokinetics.com/products/sports-testing-equipment.html

Above is the helmet testing page, doesn't look like they are concerned with blinding as you can see the Riddell label on it. Real tests may be different. Tests are run, data is collected. There's an electronic audit trail of everything. No opportunity for humans to bias of the results -  or they wouldn't have a business

They can't change the data to make one do better than another because that's a violation of their SOPs and ASTM members are rigorously controlled and audited to receive that accreditation. Given the high stakes involved and the oversight by both the NFL and the NFLPA consultants, I have little concern for the rigor of their work.

In order to work with the military, you need to meet very high standards, they've also done work for NIST ( National Institute for Standards Testing)

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8 minutes ago, Shanedorf said:

Biokinetics does a ton of work for the police and military as well as sports

http://www.biokinetics.com/

http://www.biokinetics.com/products/sports-testing-equipment.html

Above is the helmet testing page, doesn't look like they are concerned with blinding as you can see the Riddell label on it. Real tests may be different. Tests are run, data is collected. There's an electronic audit trail of everything. No opportunity for humans to bias of the results -  or they wouldn't have a business

They can't change the data to make one do better than another because that's a violation of their SOPs and ASTM members are rigorously controlled and audited to receive that accreditation. Given the high stakes involved and the oversight by both the NFL and the NFLPA consultants, I have little concern for the rigor of their work.

In order to work with the military, you need to meet very high standards, they've also done work for NIST ( National Institute for Standards Testing)

Thx that's helpful -  it doesn't actually bother me that they didn't try to blind per se - since it was brought up, I just didn't see that it's possible, given the facemask patterns are distinctive. 

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9 hours ago, Broncofan said:

Thx that's helpful -  it doesn't actually bother me that they didn't try to blind per se - since it was brought up, I just didn't see that it's possible, given the facemask patterns are distinctive. 

Yeah I don't think it's actually that big a deal whether or not they blinded the people conducting the tests. I'm sure they blinded the statistician because there's no reason not to, and if there's some complicated algorithm on the back-end you could argue that the people running the tests might not even be able to connect the results to the eventual output.

If it was critical to blind the study, they could have tried a few ways. Just add an extra arm showing that the face mask doesn't significantly impact the helmet safety compared to a generic facemask, then run the blinded portion with a generic. Or have a bunch of mix and matched helmet-face mask combinations that don't exist in real life and aren't going to be included in the study mixed in so that realistically the people running the tests have no idea which helmet would be which after a while.

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41 minutes ago, Marc MacGyver said:

Well done, NFL... Seriously, why the heck would some players ignore the results, & wait till next season before switching? 

Habits. The NHL ruled that helmets would be mandatory in 1979, leaving the option to current players to keep playing without a helmet if they so chose, and Craig McTavish played until 1997 without a helmet. Players don't always make the smartest choices. Some just like the look of their current helmet. Some just like how it feels on their hand, as compared to some others they tested. Some are simply superstitious. Ask Craig Biggio if he wanted a new shining batting helmet.

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On 4/16/2018 at 3:33 PM, mike23md said:

Sure but pharmaceuticals do it all the time. The NFL is  a business and I don't consider the league to completely ignore the money aspect if say Riddell threw 500M dollars at them. This is an annual labratory study which means the helmet manufacturers are well aware of when the study happens and who conducts it.

The disclaimers are at the bottom of the article, which usually means its a CYA. 

If it was at the front of the article, its usually meant to ensure the legitimacy of the study. Part of the exec sum if you will.

If you look at the list, all of the major helmet retailers have some helmets in the red "prohibited" section. This seems to be more about ensuring players are using the highest-protection helmets from each brand, rather than ensuring a particular brand is used.

The two highest ranking helmets are the much-talked-about VICIS helmets, and I don't imagine they have much money for bribery.

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Why doesn't the NFL have one helmet yet? I get it that players have preferences, but come on, every other piece of equipment they have no problem agreeing to an exclusive contract with. VICIS helmets are  clearly the safest at the moment, just make them the official helmet of the NFL.

 

The question why doesn't the NFL have an "official" helmet is two-pronged. From a money standpoint I don't understand, surely ridell would pay loads to have their helmet be the official NFL helmet? From a health standpoint, why would you let players wear anything but the safest models?

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51 minutes ago, RandyMossIsBoss said:

Why doesn't the NFL have one helmet yet? I get it that players have preferences, but come on, every other piece of equipment they have no problem agreeing to an exclusive contract with. VICIS helmets are  clearly the safest at the moment, just make them the official helmet of the NFL.

 

The question why doesn't the NFL have an "official" helmet is two-pronged. From a money standpoint I don't understand, surely ridell would pay loads to have their helmet be the official NFL helmet? From a health standpoint, why would you let players wear anything but the safest models?

The flip-side to this is that if you mandate one helmet, it is a "sticky" thing.  What if a safer helmet comes out?  How long does it need to outperform in tests before you change your mandated helmet?  What if you switch and then the old mandated helmet starts testing better?  Does someone who has a concussion sue the league now for not letting them wear some other helmet?

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6 minutes ago, Classic said:

So this practically puts an end to the NFL ever bringing back throwback helmets? 

This ended about 8-10 years ago when the rule passed that no team was allowed to use more than one helmet in a season anymore.

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