Could magnets in helmets reduce football concussions?

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Football has always been a violent sport. In the 1950s, when hard, polycarbonate shells replaced leather football helmets, the number of game-related fatalities plummeted. But hundreds of thousands of football-related concussions still occur every year. Now, one researcher is trying to harness the repulsive forces of magnets to reduce the impact of head-to-head collisions before they occur.

The idea is far from ready for the football field. It’s being tested in the lab, using machines for now. But one helmet expert says the strategy is worth pursuing given the seriousness of the problem.

The average NFL player takes more than 600 helmet hits a season, ranging from 20 g’s of force to more than 150. (For reference, your average roller coaster ride tops out at 5 g’s.) It typically takes about 100 g’s to cause a concussion. Standard, hard-shelled helmets keep the skull intact, but they can’t necessarily prevent concussions, because the brain essentially floats in a bath of cerebrospinal fluid. The fluid absorbs the impact of light blows, but big hits can send the brain ricocheting off the walls of the skull, damaging cells throughout the brain. The effects can be immediate—wooziness and light sensitivity for weeks, for example—and long-term; too many concussions can lead to a degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) later in life.  In fact, CTE has been found in 96% of former NFL players examined posthumously.

One year ago, avid football fan Raymond Colello watched Wes Welker, a wide receiver for the Denver Broncos, go down with the second game-ending concussion of his career. “I began lamenting the fact that concussions may ultimately destroy football itself,” said Colello, a neuroscientist at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, at a session here on Saturday at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual conference. “And at that point, like all people watching football on Sunday, I went out to my refrigerator for another beer.”

http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavior/2014/11/could-magnets-helmets-reduce-football-concussions?rss=1


Good idea if this works, but also feel if players think they are better protected if may create an illusion of invunerability, to the point the tackles become more reckless.
Be interested to see what Ben thinks

interesting.

there is already a ban on head on head tackles and they are enforcing it vigorously but obviously it is still happening - will take a while for it to leave the culture totally.

but regardless it doesn't stop the head (protected with helmet) from hitting the ground hard on the ground when tackled in a different way or diving for a touchdown etc....

I don't think with this new development (if the NFL and lower leagues even adopt it) players will become more reckless - even if they are attempting to take out the opposition they cant afford to get hurt themselves - too much at stake - and seemingly little injuries can end a career.

What a great idea!

I think the technological innovation is great, but perhaps even better would be a rule imposed on coaches -- a team can be punished for drilling head-first tackling. I've heard that a lot of coaches actually drill their players to go head-first because it wears out the other player faster; time to put the players' long-term health first and stop the win-at-all-costs mentality.

There's precedent for this at most levels of organized American football, everything from report card rules for students to "bounty" bans at the professional level (punishing teams that pay bonuses for injuring opponents).

you guys are no fun

they are fine tuned athletes worth millions........ like race horses

Not sure you pretend this does not hurt:

Not to mention:

England Captain Terry Butcher. You would never see that nowadays.



Anything that helps reduce the effects of head knocks is welcome.

Ahem....As well as...

Vinnie Jones - Paul Gasgoine