No more Pat Patriot uniforms?/Helmet Thread

[RedOctober3829]

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally have a problem that has nothing to do with coach Greg Schiano. The Buccaneers announced on Tuesday that they won't be wearing the team's Creamsicle throwback uniforms on Sept. 29 against Arizona as previously planned.
Tampa Bay made the decision to scrap the uniforms because of a new NFL policy that forbids alternate helmets. That means no 'Bucco Bruce' and no creamsicle uniforms. Teams can still wear throwback uniforms in 2013, but players have to wear their regular helmets.


http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/23702777/buccaneers-scrap-plans-to-wear-creamsicle-throwback-uniforms

This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. I love those unis and also the Pat Patriot ones. Bad job by the NFL.

 

[quint]

SJH is going to need a cigarette after reading that.

 

[Phragle]

The No Fun League strikes again!

 

[Section15Box113]

What an unbelievably dumb decision, especially for a league with a ton of history.

I'd understand if we were talking about Major League Lacrosse, but for the NFL (or MLB) to pull this is arbitrary and irrational in my book.

Not like the throwback helmets would lack modern safety innovations. Just stupid.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

SJH is going to need a cigarette after reading that.

 
And I will share it with him.  This is the best Patriot uniform news since they started selling Sam Cunningham jerseys.

 

[Section15Box113]

And this is the dumbest part:

"Teams can still wear throwback uniforms in 2013, but players have to wear their regular helmets. For instance, the Bills wore throwback uniforms in Week 2, but their throwback helmets are the same color as their current helmets: white. So players were able to wear their regular helmets because all the Bills had to do was change decals."

 

[RedOctober3829]

And this is the dumbest part:"Teams can still wear throwback uniforms in 2013, but players have to wear their regular helmets. For instance, the Bills wore throwback uniforms in Week 2, but their throwback helmets are the same color as their current helmets: white. So players were able to wear their regular helmets because all the Bills had to do was change decals."

I can tell you with complete confidence that they didn't change decals. They were different helmets, which makes it even more stupid.

 

[Devizier]

Goodbye Pat, the ugly ass lopsided mascot that fans are mysteriously nostalgic for. We knew thee too well...

 

[DJnVa]

I can tell you with complete confidence that they didn't change decals. They were different helmets, which makes it even more stupid.

 
So you somehow have info that CBS doesn't have and that the Bills (presumably) misled CBS about?

 

[moondog80]

Why would the NFL do this?  Doesn't flashing the old logos generate more sales of throwback merchandise?

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

 
And I will share it with him.  This is the best Patriot uniform news since they started selling Sam Cunningham jerseys.

 
I'm pleased we won't see those hideous reminders of shitty teams past, but for the life of me I can't figure out the league's reasoning here. Unless the "modern" helmets are of some updated design for reducing concussions and the throwbacks aren't.

 

[mpx42]

From Bucs Nation it says "The rule is aimed at increasing player safety and was recommended by the NFL's Head, Neck and Spine Committee and the Player Safety Advisory Panel."

 

[MannysDestination]

...how does that help player safety??

 

[bankshot1]

It seems the NFL's Head, Neck and Spine Committee and the Player Safety Advisory Panel have their heads up their asses, rather than in throw-back helmets outfitted with up to date protective measures.
 
F'ing stupid.

 

[Buckner's Boots]

So are we to assume that, in light of this ruling, teams have warehouses full of old helmets they've been mothballing on the prospect of bringing them out years later to slap on their modern players? Or is it that the old time decals somehow provide less protection than the modern, newfangled designs? 

 

[Ralphwiggum]

I hate Pat Patriot with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns and I hope he spends eternity in mascot hell getting raped repeatedly by the San Diego Chicken, but all of this time when Tom Brady has been wearing "throw back" Patriot jerseys and helmets I just sort of assumed that the helmet was the same helmet Brady would wear in any other game, but with the Pat Patriot logo on the side, but what I am hearing here is that it was in fact the same helmet with the styrofoam padding that we used to use in our kill the carrier games from 30 years ago?

 

[dcdrew10]

The main point of the head safety people who suggested it is players get their regular helmet fitted and adjusted through out preseason and practices to the perfect settings but they don't for their throwback helmets; here is Brady with a different style than he normally wears last year against the Jests:

I'm going to miss Pat Patriot; yes the Pats sucked then but some of my earliest sports memories were watching Flutie play in those uniforms and that's when I learned to love football. I'm also a fan of the white uniforms with the red numbering they used in 2009-2010 season for the 50th anniversary of the AFL, but mostly because they used grey face masks with the white helmets. In fact I like pretty much all the 50th anniversary unis except the Jets.
 

 

[ifmanis5]

So the league that makes 20 bajillion bucks in TV revenue every weekend can't throw an old logo on a new helmet? Riiiight.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

FWIW, this article says the restriction is "strongly encouraged", but not an absolute.
 

The NFL has a new helmet policy that strongly urgres players to wear the same helmet all year long.  Given the dramatic contrast between the current pewter helmet and the white helmet on which the Bucco Bruce decal resides, the Buccaneers have decided they can’t pull off the alternate uniform.

 
 
Edit:  And after reading a couple other articles, it may well be an absolute.

 

[( . ) ( . ) and (_!_)]

I'd like to see the current silver helmets with the Red throw back jerseys. That might be a good look.  Those red and white throw back jerseys regardless of which helmet are such a classic, traditional football design.  They look really good on the field.  Pats are due for a uniform redesign, I wouldn't mind seeing them go back to Red as the primary color instead of navy blue.

 

[Joe D Reid]

This is going to open up a new market for the companies that make those dipshitty car wraps.  

 

[OCST]

This policy is a shiny object, designed to divert the public's attention, by way of saying WERE DOING SOEMTHNG ABOUT PLAYER SFATEY!!111!11!111
 
What crap.

 

[crystalline]

This policy is a shiny object, designed to divert the public's attention, by way of saying WERE DOING SOEMTHNG ABOUT PLAYER SFATEY!!111!11!111
 
What crap.

It's at least as likely to have been suggested by their legal staff to avoid some future liability risk.

Not sure if this is entirely forestalled by the current settlement. It may be.

 

[RedOctober3829]

 
So you somehow have info that CBS doesn't have and that the Bills (presumably) misled CBS about?

The standard practice is to have different helmets for each uniform combo.  They aren't going to just take off and throw away the decals for this.  In the college game, it is standard practice to have a helmet for practice and a helmet for games which are the exact same.  The Bills probably have 2 helmets in the same size and model for each player with each set of decals on them.  I'm just speaking from experience.

 

[Section15Box113]

Paul Lukas over at UniWatch weighs in.
 
The key sections of his piece:
 

 
• As you can see from the preceding quotes, there seems to be some confusion and conflicting language about whether this is a “recommendation” or a “rule.” Semantics aside, I’m pretty sure it is indeed being treated as a rule, not as an optional advisory.
 
• The rule — assuming that’s what it is — will affect some throwback designs but not others. The Bills and Bears, for example, both wore throwbacks this past Sunday, but they were both able to use their existing helmet shells. The Bears simply removed their decals and the Bills swapped out their charging buffalo for the standing buffalo. If the Lions wanted to wear their Thanksgiving throwbacks with the plain silver helmets, that would presumably be okay too. But this puts the kibosh on the throwback designs recently used by lots of other teams, including the Falcons, Patriots, Cowboys, ’Skins, and others. It may also explain why the Steelers are wearing their bumblebee throwbacks again this season, instead of this throwback design.
 
• One thing I don’t understand: The Packers are slated to wear their bullseye throwbacks, which include brown helmets, on Oct. 20. Maybe they’ll be issuing a statement similar to the Bucs’ announcement shortly..? Or maybe they’ll wear their regular helmets with the throwback uni? (By coincidence, a few years ago Phil had Photoshopped a photo to show how that might look — not bad!) Also, the Rams are planning to wear their royal/yellow throwbacks twice this season, on Nov. 3 and Dec. 22, although I suppose they could stick with their existing helmets for that, or at re-decal them with yellow horns. (Update: The Packers have announced that they’ll still wear their throwback unis, but with plain gold helmets.)
 
• Related to the above: If the rule was enacted during the offseason, why are the Bucs just learning about it (or at least reacting to it) now? Were the Packers and Rams also unaware of it? Seems like something has gone wrong here, communication-wise.
 
• Aside from throwbacks, the NFL has never allowed alternate helmets. This has been for branding purposes, not for safety reasons. But with the explosion of alternate helmets on the college level, I’ve been saying for some time now that the NFL is bound to allow alternate headwear soon. (I predicted this during two different radio interviews just last week, in fact.) But with this new rule in place, it appears that teams will stick with — indeed, are stuck with — one helmet design apiece. Or at least one helmet color apiece.

 
And then, this:

 
Meanwhile, consider this: If it truly is riskier to switch lids during the season, it kinda makes you wonder about all those colleges that play musical chairs with their headgear each week, no?

 
So, is this change just window dressing or is there truly a medical rationale to one helmet per player for a full year?  If the latter, sucks to play for the Oregon Ducks.

 

[crystalline]

Medical rationale is missing. We know almost nothing about how different helmet designs affect risk of brain damage. Because we know almost nothing about how impact forces affect risk of brain damage, beyond the simple such as impact during concussion recovery increases long-term risk. This is not a medical question it is a lab research (think rat brains and injury testing) and a epidemiology (measure many humans and cognitive outcomes) question. Which is not conclusively answered.

That's the risk. Why open the possibility that some helmets are worse than others? Make everyone use the same helmet and there's no chance that future research will show one helmet is better than another, or a legal arbiter will be convinced of such.

 

[simplyeric]

If they used the soft-shell helmets with a slip-on cover then the problem goes away.
There's a bunch of talk that the soft-shell helmets are better for impact protection, and you could change the cover between downs if you wanted to, just for the hell of it.
(I know some said the soft-shell might lead to more neck injuries, although I still maintain that you could apply a slippage layer so that the soft surfaces wouldn't result in more friction dragging).

 

[Ralphwiggum]

Medical rationale is missing. We know almost nothing about how different helmet designs affect risk of brain damage. Because we know almost nothing about how impact forces affect risk of brain damage, beyond the simple such as impact during concussion recovery increases long-term risk. This is not a medical question it is a lab research (think rat brains and injury testing) and a epidemiology (measure many humans and cognitive outcomes) question. Which is not conclusively answered.

That's the risk. Why open the possibility that some helmets are worse than others? Make everyone use the same helmet and there's no chance that future research will show one helmet is better than another, or a legal arbiter will be convinced of such.

 
I'm not following.  If Tom Brady has two of the exact same model Ridell helmet, identical in all respects except one has Pat Patriot on it and the other has Flying Elvis, how would this open the book to the argument that some helmets work better than others?

 

[RedOctober3829]

Medical rationale is missing. We know almost nothing about how different helmet designs affect risk of brain damage. Because we know almost nothing about how impact forces affect risk of brain damage, beyond the simple such as impact during concussion recovery increases long-term risk. This is not a medical question it is a lab research (think rat brains and injury testing) and a epidemiology (measure many humans and cognitive outcomes) question. Which is not conclusively answered.

That's the risk. Why open the possibility that some helmets are worse than others? Make everyone use the same helmet and there's no chance that future research will show one helmet is better than another, or a legal arbiter will be convinced of such.

You can not ever ask everybody to use the same helmet because each head is anatomically different.  Lab research has been done.  Virginia Tech has done a study that shows which style helmets are better at trying to prevent concussions and they have updated it each year after.
 
Link to helmet ratings http://www.sbes.vt.edu/nid.php
 
To address simplyeric's point, as of right now you are not allowed to alter the helmet with any additional padding outside the manufacturer's guidelines.  You will then void the warranty of the helmet and open yourself up to a lawsuit.  I've been in on many discussions at the national level about helmet safety and it's correlation to concussions.  In my opinion, there is no one way to prevent concussions because the brain is made of Jell-O and if it slides one way or the other you are going to have a problem.

 

[crystalline]

You can not ever ask everybody to use the same helmet because each head is anatomically different.  Lab research has been done.  Virginia Tech has done a study that shows which style helmets are better at trying to prevent concussions and they have updated it each year after.
 
Link to helmet ratings http://www.sbes.vt.edu/nid.php
 
To address simplyeric's point, as of right now you are not allowed to alter the helmet with any additional padding outside the manufacturer's guidelines.  You will then void the warranty of the helmet and open yourself up to a lawsuit.  I've been in on many discussions at the national level about helmet safety and it's correlation to concussions.  In my opinion, there is no one way to prevent concussions because the brain is made of Jell-O and if it slides one way or the other you are going to have a problem.

 
Well, that's more data than I expected, but keep in mind that there are several limitations.  (Rowson and Duma 2011).
- Their ratings are based on measuring acceleration experienced by a phantom head in the helmet for several drop heights (velocities) and directions.  They make statements about injury risk based on resulting acceleration but they are based on many assumptions, for example: "Published injury incidence rates for game participation were used to determine the proper weighting between sub-concussive and concussive head acceleration distributions."  They do not directly test the forces that cause concussions.  We know that injury risk is higher for blindside injuries, and thus a helmet that reduced visual field of view while reducing acceleration would be predicted to be better by these data (reduces acceleration), but may actually be worse (increases injury risk because more hits are blind).
- It seems possible that the biggest risk is for hits that are borderline to cause concussion, and their metric is not terribly informative on that:
"injury risk associated with these head accelerations is low (<10%) because impacts of these severities occur frequently in collegiate football
without concussion."
- This only talks about concussion, not about future cognitive dysfunction which is what we likely care about most.
 
My original statement still stands: we don't know much about how football leads to future cognitive impairment, thus any metric for evaluating helmets will not be very informative.  Thus, a risk-averse organization will not want their athletes to change helmets over a season (but of course everyone should use the helmet that fits and works best for them).  Because someone may get injured in a throwback helmet, and then in a legal proceeding it will be possible to argue that the organization did not put as much care into the throwback helmets as the regular ones.  Which increases your risk.  Which you can eliminate by requiring players to wear only one helmet.  Risk reduction.
 
Again all this is contingent on the assumption that the recent settlement has not closed off all possible liability.

 

[ilol@u]

Semi-offtopic, but somebody re-designed all 32 logos of the NFL. Here is the Patriots one:

 
And the link for the other 32 teams: http://imgur.com/gallery/yGJKk

 

[crystalline]

RedOctober - I generally agree with you that we are learning more and more about how hits cause concussion and how those cause injury, we're just not there yet.  The instrumented players will eventually generate enough data to tell us which kinematic (and other, such as body position/awareness/vision) parameters lead to concussion, but the data is now insufficient. The most recent (2013) study by the VT guys --
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10439-012-0731-0
-- still only uses 37 concussions and estimates "concussion risk" by taking the ~250 largest accelerations and calling those "undiagnosed concussions".  Bottom line: these studies are a step in the right direction but let's not take them as gospel.  I've mostly said my piece on this and will step away for a bit.

 

[ChefDJW]

Does anyone else think this "player safety" thing is a red herring? Are you telling me that, after a helmet to helmet hit, Tom (or Peyton, Eli, RGIII, Luck) doesn't have at least a dozen custom molded helmets to change into? Maybe the league, in it's desire to protect the QB, not only in terms of health, wants to avoid the risk of "throwing to the wrong hat"? I would like to think that most players know their routes inside and out, but in a pressure situation where the QB'S can't see jersey numbers, aren't they looking for a helmet? More confusion leads to more mistakes.

 

[RedOctober3829]

RedOctober - I generally agree with you that we are learning more and more about how hits cause concussion and how those cause injury, we're just not there yet.  The instrumented players will eventually generate enough data to tell us which kinematic (and other, such as body position/awareness/vision) parameters lead to concussion, but the data is now insufficient. The most recent (2013) study by the VT guys --
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10439-012-0731-0
-- still only uses 37 concussions and estimates "concussion risk" by taking the ~250 largest accelerations and calling those "undiagnosed concussions".  Bottom line: these studies are a step in the right direction but let's not take them as gospel.  I've mostly said my piece on this and will step away for a bit.

I'm not saying that the data we have right now is gospel.  You are absolutely correct in saying that body position, correct tackling positions, and other outside elements other than the helmet itself have something to do with players getting concussions.  You could have the most perfect helmet on a kid, but if he lowers his head while blocking or tackling there's greater risk for concussion.
 
My feeling on the use of throwback helmets is this: if you have the same exact model with the exact size jaw pads in both helmets and you check the air pressure in the helmet while on the player and he's fine with it then you should have no problem using 2 different helmets. 

 

[RedOctober3829]

Does anyone else think this "player safety" thing is a red herring? Are you telling me that, after a helmet to helmet hit, Tom (or Peyton, Eli, RGIII, Luck) doesn't have at least a dozen custom molded helmets to change into? Maybe the league, in it's desire to protect the QB, not only in terms of health, wants to avoid the risk of "throwing to the wrong hat"? I would like to think that most players know their routes inside and out, but in a pressure situation where the QB'S can't see jersey numbers, aren't they looking for a helmet? More confusion leads to more mistakes.

No, they don't have a dozen custom molded helmets to change into.  Player safety is a real issue if you haven't noticed by all the former players who are crippled or blowing their brains out.  As Cris Carter would say, "c'mon man."

 

[ChefDJW]

No, they don't have a dozen custom molded helmets to change into. Player safety is a real issue if you haven't noticed by all the former players who are crippled or blowing their brains out. As Cris Carter would say, "c'mon man."

This only speaks to my point. With all the information coming out about head injury, the NFL, or any team, wouldn't make sure there were backups in place? Look at NASCAR (OK, feel free to flame me at this point), but the HANS device, and the cars themselves are engineered for driver safety. The decals on them are supplementary. And they cost a hell of a lot more than a helmet.

 

[ChefDJW]

Just to clarify, I am on no way saying that player safety is not on the forefront of the conversation, just that the graphics on the helmet should not, I hope, affect the performance of the helmet. Are "throwback helmets" really old helmets?

 

[Fred not Lynn]

 
I'm not following.  If Tom Brady has two of the exact same model Ridell helmet, identical in all respects except one has Pat Patriot on it and the other has Flying Elvis, how would this open the book to the argument that some helmets work better than others?

I can't say for sure how it works for football helmets, but I do know that for many pieces of high performance sports equipment, two of the exact same model are never quite the same. Maybe this is driven by players not wanting to switch helmets all the time...

 

[Dogman]

Semi-offtopic, but somebody re-designed all 32 logos of the NFL. Here is the Patriots one:

 
And the link for the other 32 teams: http://imgur.com/gallery/yGJKk

All of those are pretty great.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Does anyone else think this "player safety" thing is a red herring? Are you telling me that, after a helmet to helmet hit, Tom (or Peyton, Eli, RGIII, Luck) doesn't have at least a dozen custom molded helmets to change into? Maybe the league, in it's desire to protect the QB, not only in terms of health, wants to avoid the risk of "throwing to the wrong hat"? I would like to think that most players know their routes inside and out, but in a pressure situation where the QB'S can't see jersey numbers, aren't they looking for a helmet? More confusion leads to more mistakes.

 
Maybe, but the league makes money on selling throwback merchandise -- every time the Pats wear the old red uniforms, they sell a ton of them.  Same with the other teams.  If they do fewer throwback games due to this rule, revenues go down.  Do not forget that $$ is goal one of the league. Player safety is somewhere else in the top 10
 

Just to clarify, I am on no way saying that player safety is not on the forefront of the conversation, just that the graphics on the helmet should not, I hope, affect the performance of the helmet. Are "throwback helmets" really old helmets?

 
You really aren't asking this question, are you?

 

[BigJimEd]

As has been previously said, the helmets are all fitted and adjusted throughout preseason and practice. Brady and Wilfork aren't just grabbing a size medium or large helmet off the shelf,  throwing it on and running out onto the field.
 
Equipment managers are adjusting helmets throughout camp.
 
The rationale behind the rule is that the throwback's may not have the perfect fit since they haven't had the time to adjust them. Whether you agree with that or think it compromises player safety is a different question.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

As has been previously said, the helmets are all fitted and adjusted throughout preseason and practice. Brady and Wilfork aren't just grabbing a size medium or large helmet off the shelf,  throwing it on and running out onto the field.
 
Equipment managers are adjusting helmets throughout camp.
 
The rationale behind the rule is that the throwback's may not have the perfect fit since they haven't had the time to adjust them. Whether you agree with that or think it compromises player safety is a different question.

 
So the college teams that use a half dozen different helmets are putting their student athlete's lives at risk?

I can see that.

 

[simplyeric]

 
Maybe, but the league makes money on selling throwback merchandise -- every time the Pats wear the old red uniforms, they sell a ton of them.  Same with the other teams.  If they do fewer throwback games due to this rule, revenues go down.  Do not forget that $$ is goal one of the league. Player safety is somewhere else in the top 10
 
 
You really aren't asking this question, are you?

I think people keep referring to the throwback helmets as not as safe, and I think it's confusing people.  I actually got the impression from someone (can't recall which post) that it was the fact that they are throwbacks that makes them unsafe, as opposed to the fact that it's simply not the same actual single helmet, regardless of color or decal.
 

As has been previously said, the helmets are all fitted and adjusted throughout preseason and practice. Brady and Wilfork aren't just grabbing a size medium or large helmet off the shelf,  throwing it on and running out onto the field.
 
Equipment managers are adjusting helmets throughout camp.
 
The rationale behind the rule is that the throwback's may not have the perfect fit since they haven't had the time to adjust them. Whether you agree with that or think it compromises player safety is a different question.

 
I don't think anyone thinks they they have generic off-the-shelf helmets for the guys.  The same way they don't have generic off-the-shelf shoes.  But I think it's reasonalbe for people to think "hey, I assumed that Brady has more than one fitted helmet, the same way he has more than one fitted shoe pair or one fitted uniform".  Apparently that's not the case though?  As in, they actually use the same single helmet all year?  That's news to me, and a lot of people.  Good to know.
 
I guess I find it a little odd, actually.  Wouldn't the repeated impact tend to have an effect on the shell, causing fractures or stresses, weakening certain areas?  Obviously people study that and think otherwise, but it's generally surprising to me.

 

[Leather]

All of those are pretty great.

 
Eh.  Some are pretty good, some are pretty bad (49ers, Cowboys, Vikings).
 
Mostly, though, almost all of them are too busy; too many fine details that would look awful off of a computer screen and placed on a uniform or piece of clothing.
 
Also, they are very stylistically of the moment.  That is, in 10 years, they will all look incredibly dated, and smack of the "dark, gritty, realism" that is really hip right now (See, e.g. Chris Nolan's movies).  

 

[moondog80]

Does anyone else think this "player safety" thing is a red herring? Are you telling me that, after a helmet to helmet hit, Tom (or Peyton, Eli, RGIII, Luck) doesn't have at least a dozen custom molded helmets to change into? Maybe the league, in it's desire to protect the QB, not only in terms of health, wants to avoid the risk of "throwing to the wrong hat"? I would like to think that most players know their routes inside and out, but in a pressure situation where the QB'S can't see jersey numbers, aren't they looking for a helmet? More confusion leads to more mistakes.

 
 
I believe they are sincere about safety because I can't imagine any other motivation.

 

[Ralphwiggum]

I made the joke up thread (drunken late night post) about the throwback helmets being actual "throw back" helmets like the ones I used to wear running around in the backyard 30+ years ago with the styrofoam padding inside.  I assume nobody actually thinks that the throwback helmets are really helmets from 30 years ago that only had the protective technology available from 30+ years ago, but maybe not.
 
The confusion to me is how much it actually matters that any NFL player might wear more than one helmet in a given year, assuming they are the same make and model helmet, and they are given the same adjustments by the equipment manager.  That just seems a little crazy to me, and nothing I have read really explains why they feel it is a risk for players to use more than one in a season.  I mean, I'm not sure I even knew that NFL players used the exact same helmet all year long.  Same type and model helmet, sure, but the exact same helmet through every practice and all 16 games with all of the wear and tear it goes through, I sort of assumed they might have 2-3 helmets anyway.
I'm no fan of the Pats throwback uniforms (and in general the whole "alternate uniform" thing is just a money grab by the owners, so ultimately as a fan I don't really care one way or another), but I still haven't seen a good explanation of this rule by the NFL. And as noted, if there is sound rationale behind the decision, it sure seems like colleges might want to re-think the multiple alternate uniforms that some programs are trotting out there, which presumably means that some college players are using maybe 3-4 different helmets in any given season.

 

[Leather]

 
 
I believe they are sincere about safety because I can't imagine any other motivation.

 
Really?  How about this for motivation:  Do something ostensibly in the name of safety that will cause a lot of press leading up to the week's games, and that the broadcasters will talk about, so the fans think we care about safety, but that won't impact revenue at all.

 

[( . ) ( . ) and (_!_)]

I've always assumed they either wore different helmets for every game or actually had the helmets repainted each week. 
 
You rarely see an NFL team with helmets that look like this (at least not at the start of games):

 
That naturally happens to football helmets at the high school level, one would expect the biggest, fastest, strongest players in the world to be beating the shit out of their helmets over a 16 game season.  But week after week we see players trotting onto the field with pristine helmets to start the game.  What other explanation is there besides they are different helmets vs. the last game or they have been repainted?
 
And if they are already doing either of those options, then why can't they do the same for throwback helmets?
 
(granted I have no idea how hard it is to repaint a football helmet and if changing color from say silver to white back to silver is a big challenge)

 

[simplyeric]

I've always assumed they either wore different helmets for every game or actually had the helmets repainted each week. 
 
You rarely see an NFL team with helmets that look like this (at least not at the start of games):

 
That naturally happens to football helmets at the high school level, one would expect the biggest, fastest, strongest players in the world to be beating the shit out of their helmets over a 16 game season.  But week after week we see players trotting onto the field with pristine helmets to start the game.  What other explanation is there besides they are different helmets vs. the last game or they have been repainted?
 
And if they are already doing either of those options, then why can't they do the same for throwback helmets?
 
(granted I have no idea how hard it is to repaint a football helmet and if changing color from say silver to white back to silver is a big challenge)

 
That's sorta what I thought:
 
custom fitting inside an otherwise standard shell, S/M/L/XL, etc, or possibly with the shell being customized per each user, but not so much so that they cant use a new shell each week, again with the understanding that the interior straps and pads, etc, are highly customized and continuously adjusted...

 

[jercra]

No, they don't have a dozen custom molded helmets to change into.  Player safety is a real issue if you haven't noticed by all the former players who are crippled or blowing their brains out.  As Cris Carter would say, "c'mon man."

So when the Headset/Mic in the QB or MLB's helmet stops working and you see them swap out the helmet for a different one is that not also a custom fit helmet?  Are the players under a greater risk of injury when that happens?  If not, I'll echo everyone else's sentiments and ask why they couldn't have 4 of them or 6 or 10?