The helmet is used to cover the head and prevent injuries such as concussions from occurring to the player wearing the helmet. Concussions are very serious so they try to use the best material possible. Despite their attempts, the helmets aren’t always 100% affective but they still keep worse injuries from occurring.

Shell Facemask Jaw Pads

The shell is the outer part of the football helmet. It is made out of a hard plastic with padding on the inside of the shell. The makers of football helmets decided to use this hard plastic because it’s…hard! It doesn’t break on impact so people’s heads won’t hit the ground. It is a tough exterior so it consumes the shock and doesn’t bend into the player’s head. While the inner padding helps with consuming the hit

The Facemask is used to absorb the shock on contact and keep the player’s face from hitting anything and getting damaged. So the material they choose is… Why? Because it’s a very hard material that, on contact, stays as is and keeps the player’s face from being damaged. The bars are a little far away from the face itself, so player’s faces won’t be hitting the facemasks themselves.

The jaw pads are used to…protect the jaw. They use foam and put a plastic covering over it so it’s soft and cushions the blow but it is strong enough from keeping the foam in its form. Fascinating Fact: The inventors of the jaw pads were David Halstead and Cherie Alexander

Air Bladder is just a bunch of foam-rubber pads and inflatable pads used to help protect the head and enclose the head to keep players from getting concussions. The air bladder located right inside of the helmets. Inflatable and foam-rubber pads are used because they are soft and comfortable, and the air filled ones keep the head from making contact with the hard part of the helmets. You can also pump up the air-filled filled helmet so that the padding is cozy to you and fits your head just as tight as you like.

Chapter 1: The First Football Helmets The first football helmet was made out of thick leather and was used during an first used at an army-navy game where a player was warned if he got kicked in the head one more time, he’d die! So he wore a helmet to prevent this from happening. Eventually this caught on and a lot of people began to where helmets. The original helmets made without facemasks and there were no holes in the ears which made it very hard to hear each other, a lot of people had to scream just to be heard but in 1915, they made helmets with flaps and holes in the ears to make communication easier and give more protection.

Chapter 2: The Start of Plastic In 1917, people came up with the idea to prevent more in injuries to the head from occurring, they came up with the idea to put padding inside the leather helmets to cozy the head as it is being hit. This idea was the first of many more brilliant ideas to come. The next great idea came in the mid-1930’s when Vern McMillan had the thought of facemasks being attached to the head protecting gear, it’ll be placed right on the helmet and circumvent the face from bashing against the ground. This was a revolutionary idea. The only thing about the material that has changed is now they use metal instead of the original plastic. Finally, in 1939, John T. Riddell and his son, John T. Riddell Jr. came up with the idea to make helmets out of plastic. This idea was turned into reality. Eventually, the NFL made plastic helmets legal and leather helmets were a day in the past. Also this was the start of the Riddell Company, a helmet company that still makes football helmets to this day.

Chapter 3: Newer, Better, and More Efficient Over the course of football helmets gradually changed, facemasks, air bladder, jaw pads, etc. One problem, however, was still lingering, the threat of concussions. With NFL players hitting harder than ever before, concussions became more and more frequent. In 2002, the Riddell Company came out with a new style of helmet that has dropped the risk of concussions down 31%, it’s called, the Revolution! Many players began to wear the Revolution and now it’s one of the most popular helmets in the NFL. Now, however, companies such as Riddell are taking the concept of the Revolution and turning them into newer and safer helmets such as the Revo Speed and the Ion Helmet. These types of helmets are still being made to ensure safety of the players and good health to all football lovers.

Information: American Football Protective Equpiment, None, 10/21/10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football_protective_equptiment How Products Are Made, None, 10/21/ html, Free Patents, None, 10/21/10 wiki/History_of_the_football_helmet, History of the Football Helmet, None, 10/21/10 How Stuff Works, None, 10/21/10 History of the Football Helmet, None, 10/21/10 Images (Google Images): Sports-memorabilia-museum.com Sayfco.org Americansportscollectables.com Sportsblink.com Sportscrack.com Games.espn.go.com Yourhelmetculture.com Nj.com Wired.com Pastimesports.biz