Modern American football helmets are no more effective in protecting high school and college players from injury than the leather helmets used nearly 100 years ago.
That's according to a new study by the Cleveland Clinic, in which researchers conducted impact tests on the latest, high-tech helmets and low-tech old ones that mimicked the hits young players routinely suffer on the field and that lead to thousands of concussions each year.
Lead researcher Adam Bartsch says what they tested were common, everyday hits, not the really severe NFL kill shots.
The researchers discovered that for most impacts and angles, today's polycarbonate helmets are no better at reducing injury than the "leatherheads" of old. And in some cases, the old helmets offered slightly better protection, which Bartsch calls "really surprising."
He says they raise serious questions about the effectiveness of a helmet with a hard outer shell and a fairly stiff interior padding in protecting players from hits that over time could lead to head, neck and brain injuries.
