Top-testing helmet not tops with players

NEW YORK— The helmet that performed best in NFL testing this year is being used by 50 players spread across only half of the NFL teams.

Still, its developer is “thrilled” with that number, while expecting the VICIS Zero1 to catch on the way Larry Fitzgerald snags passes.

Yes, it seems strange that a piece of equipment some have called revolutionary and most have admitted is a clear step toward safer equipment isn’t in wider use. The new product topped independent testing of 33 helmets conducted in Canada by the league and NFLPA.

The results, which included testing the impact at three velocities and in eight locations on each helmet, were sent to each team and to the players.

The Zero 1 is the first to account for rotational as well as linear impact. Scientific studies have indicated that rotational impact has more correlation with concussions.

David Marver, who created the helmet, was prepared for a slow adoption of the Zero1.

“Players are traditional and superstitious and have to be persuaded to try new helmets,” he says. “There’s a group of NFL players who are very concerned about their health and very interested (in the helmet). There are many who care about style; they want it to pass the eye test. It’s a mindset on new innovations.”

That mindset apparently doesn’t exist among doctors and scientists involved in either the testing methods or research into the efficiency and protective qualities of equipment.

When the VICIS helmet, which was nearly five years in the making, was tested it produced the lowest average linear and rotational measures of head motion across all impact speeds.

Anovel helmet design comprised of a more compliant exterior shell and an inner layer of buckling columns to absorb energy led to the top rating.

“The VICIS helmet results demonstrate that additional reductions in impact severity beyond those of current helmets can be achieved by reexamining the components and function of football helmets,” says Dr. Jeff Crandall, director of the Center for Applied Biomechanics at the University of Virginia.

“The (NFL’s) Head Health Tech and other sponsored challenges are intended to stimulate the consideration of new design ideas and the development of new materials and concepts for impact mitigation.”

The cost for the VICIS helmet is $1,500.

That shouldn’t make an NFL player think twice, but it can limit its attractiveness to some colleges and, in particular, for youth sports.

But Marver says his company has begun taking reservations from parents and grandparents of high school players for smaller and lighter helmets that cost less next year.

“We chose the most challenging path, going for the elite athletes first,” Marver admits. “We needed to establish our credibility, and the test results helped do that. We started with a clean sheet of paper, with a mix of experts involved.

“We spent three years working with the NFL and the NFLPA and the teams. We had to ask a lot of questions and do a lot of listening. The equipment managers provided the most valuable input. They are doing this every day.

“We see us as acting as a catalyst in the industry.”