Ohio high school homecoming game gets special attention for smart helmet tech

Centerville (Ohio) was featured on CNBC for their homecoming game due to their innovation with player safety helmets.

Football remains the most popular sport in the country—but, as ubiquitous and untouchable as it seems, there is one long-term threat to football that isn’t going away anytime soon: Head injuries.

That’s why reducing head injuries and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) has become such a point of emphasis at every level of the game, especially for younger athletes whose brains are still developing and more vulnerable.

And one Ohio high school received some special attention at their homecoming game this past weekend for such a mission: the team’s embrace of a special kind of helmet with sensors intended to collect data to help prevent concussions.

Centerville was the subject of a CNBC broadcast by alumna Courtney Regan, a 2001 graduate. She was on hand to report on the school’s use of the Riddell InSite helmets they’ve been wearing for the last five years.

David Jablonski at the Dayton Daily News has the details:

“Centerville purchased the helmets five years ago with help from Bill’s Donuts in Centerville. It cost $12,000 to purchase 120 helmets, which collect and analyze data from on-field head impacts. The coaches and trainers can then monitor the data and help the players improve their technique to help avoid impacts.”

Here’s a look at how the smart helmet technology works

Centerville defeated Northmont (Ohio) 37-6, moving to 5-0 on the season.

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NFL fans turned Ezekiel Elliott’s futuristic ‘Power Rangers’ helmet into a hilarious meme

NFL fans have so many memes about Ezekiel Elliott’s cool new helmet.

Those who have watched the Cowboys this summer and preseason have likely noticed something different about Ezekiel Elliott. No, it doesn’t have anything to do with the veteran running back’s play — though he is fully recovered from a knee injury suffered last fall.

Elliott is actually using a different helmet for the first time in his seven-year career. The 27-year-old previously wore Riddell’s Speedflex. He will play the 2022 season using their new helmet, the Axiom. Compared to helmets we’re used to seeing players wear on NFL fields, this sleek but futuristic-looking metal cap can be a bit jarring to take in at first glance:

I mean … what? Every time I look at this picture of Elliott, I almost can’t believe a player has that kind of helmet on. He looks like he’s about to say it’s Morphin’ Time! Not play football.

It’s worth noting that the Axiom’s appeal doesn’t seem to be just about aesthetics. Per a press release from Riddell, every Axiom helmet is designed to be a custom fit for a player’s head, created from a high-tech digital scan. There’s also more efficient and effective padding that apparently helps absorb impact.

All that is well and good. Elliott’s new helmet — especially with that facemask — still looks like he can pilot his own Zord.

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Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott one of many players trying out futuristic new helmet for 2022

Riddell’s new Axiom model is custom-designed for each player and features a more integrated facemask and visor for improved protection. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Ezekiel Elliott, now fully recovered from a partially torn ligament in his knee, is hoping to get back to looking like the same running back who won the league rushing title in two of his first three seasons.

But there could be something different about the way he looks in 2022, at least to sharp-eyed Cowboys fans.

Elliott is rocking a new lid.

Photos taken during media portions of the team’s OTAs thus far have shown Elliott to be sporting new helmet. He’s worn the Riddell Speedflex since coming to Dallas in 2016, albeit with a couple different facemask configurations over his six seasons.

But the 26-year-old is now trying out the company’s newest helmet, the Axiom.

 

“Umm, I changed my shoulder pads one year,” he explained to reporters last week. “So I mean, this is probably like the biggest change I’ve had.”

But according to the helmet manufacturer, the new model is about more than a futuristic aesthetic.

Rather than position-specific headgear, the Axiom is designed and made specifically to fit each individual player, created from a high-tech digital scan of the player’s head. The helmet is then custom-built for a perfect fit.

Flex panels and internal liners help absorb impact, and Elliott says his new helmet is “lighter” and “has the same safety rating,” but the most obvious change from traditional helmets may be in the facemask.

 

Instead of what has previously been, for all intents and purposes, a cage fastened to the shell of the headgear, Riddell says the Axiom features “a panoramic elliptical” mask that is better integrated into the helmet itself.

Gone is the top bar that encircles the upper face opening and the raised corners that are bolted to the exterior of the helmet. The result is a stronger facemask that also dramatically increases the player’s peripheral view of the field.

The Axiom also comes standard with a factory-installed, optically-correct visor to aid in eye protection. Elliott’s visor is darkened; J.J. Watt and Budda Baker of the Arizona Cardinals have been seen wearing the Axiom with a clear visor. The visor can also be removed entirely.

Cowboys backup Tony Pollard has also been using the Axiom in early practice sessions, as have several other players from squads across the NFL.

The Axiom will be seen all over college fields this fall, too, after three years of testing. Ohio State, Florida, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Texas, Houston, Penn State, Florida State, Stanford, SMU, and UCLA are just a few of the programs who have already tried out the Axiom with their players.

But the ultimate goal is improved player safety at all levels of the game. The Axiom contains impact-sensing technology that collects and transmits data from the field in real time, allowing coaches and training staffs to better monitor player safety, even during practices and games.

Athletes tend to be creatures of habit (or superstition), especially when it comes to their personal gear. But with the release of what the industry’s top manufacturer is calling “a great leap forward” in helmet tech, look for more and more players to start a new habit with the Axiom.

Even if it’s just because so many other players are wearing it.

“They come out with the new Ford F-150, you know what I’m saying?” Elliott joked. “You got the old one, you want the new one.”

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Trent Williams was trying to get new helmet when Redskins placed him on NFI

Williams says that he was in the process of finding a suitable helmet when the Redskins placed him on the NFI, ending his season.

Would you believe it if someone told you that, after failing his October 29th physical because of discomfort when putting on a football helmet, Trent Williams was actually looking for a suitable option so that he could play football again?

According to an interview with The Athletic, Williams said that he was in the process of working with Riddell in order to find a helmet that worked for his head, and wouldn’t irritate the scar that remains after having a growth removed from his scalp earlier in the year.

While he was waiting to receive a new helmet from Riddell, the Washington Redskins placed him on the Non-Football Injury list, assuring that his season was over, and he would not be paid by the team.

The left tackle did acknowledge that day that his injury was a non-football injury, though he did say in the Thursday interview that the team’s move to place him on NFI caught him off guard. He was actually looking forward to having a new helmet from Riddell that Monday that would hopefully address the discomfort he felt when he tried on two different helmets to no avail on Oct. 29 and subsequently failed his physical two hours after initially passing it.

Of course, just because he was looking for a suitable helmet doesn’t mean that he had any intention of using said helmet with the Redskins, but the optics are still terrible.

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