Do too many helmets pose a safety risk?

Oregon football players used three helmets last season — green, black and white — that were mixed and matched with myriad uniform combinations.

The Ducks were pioneers in football fashion and other schools have followed, using helmets to make a statement. Now, the NCAA wants to determine whether style is coming at the expense of safety.

The governing body’s football oversight committee will meet this week in Indianapolis and is to begin studying whether multiple helmets could lead to more concussions and serious head and neck injuries.

“The notion is that let’s do as much research and data collection as we can to be able to start answering those questions as to whether one helmet or more helmets is the best way to go in terms of short and longterm safety,” said Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson, who leads the NCAA football competition committee that reports to oversight. “We just want to know what is the best way to go about it?”

Anderson’s school is among those that have embraced ever-changing uniform combinations. Sometimes the Sun Devils’ head gear is black. Sometimes white. Sometimes gold. Sometimes maroon or gray.

Many schools that prefer to stick to a traditional look will occasionally dabble in an alternative helmet. Ohio State, for example, had players wear black helmets in two games last season.

In the NFL, this will be the fifth season in which players may only wear the one helmet.

In 2013, the league’s Head, Neck and Spine Committee and the Player Safety Advisory Panel recommended that players no longer be given new helmets to match alternative uniforms. Any aesthetic alterations of the helmet can only be made with decals.

The concerns about switching helmets mostly involve fit. Helmets come in different sizes and are adjusted by equipment staffers to specific players in a few ways, depending on the manufacturer and style. Most Riddell helmets, one of the two most popular brands along with Schutt, use an inflatable bladder system to get just the right fit for safety and comfort. Some helmets have removable padding and others use straps.