BUFFONE: Would Leather Helmets be Safer in Football?

by John Buffone

In light of former NFL linebacker Junior Seau’s death last week, more investigation is being done with head trauma and its effects on retired NFL players. While league commissioner Roger Goodell is frantically trying to change the rules and make the game safer, players continue to sustain concussions because of violent hits when both players are running full speed and banging heads. This epidemic has forced groups to reach for radical solutions ranging from equipment changes to extreme fines and suspensions for “overly-violent” hits. One notion that is gaining some support is actually downgrading the NFL’s helmets back to the leather-style that was used through the 1950s. While I don’t expect the idea to gain any iota of momentum, allow me to play devil’s advocate for a moment. The current helmets the players use are somewhat heavy and allow players to used their helmets as a weapon despite years of being taught proper tackling form. Time and time again we’ve seen players launch themselves head first in order to increase the ferocity of their hit. If the players were to wear the less heavy helmets, it would provide protection from incidental head contact while forcing players to use the proper form of tackling of using the shoulder instead of the head as the point of contact. Furthermore, leather-style helmets were done away with in the 1960s because of skull fractures that were sustained through constant pile-ups but the NFL has since inserted strict rules to help prevent such pile-ups from occurring. As stated earlier, don’t expect any of this to gain ground but it is an interesting concept to ponder to say the least.

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