NFL Launches $3m Helmet Challenge
The NFL has launched a new initiative entitled the NFL Helmet Challenge, designed to create a new helmet to be worn by players in the league.
The challenge will see up to $3 million available to those taking part, including $2 million in grant funding to support the development of a helmet prototype, as well as a $1 million award to the winner.
The initiative is designed to “simulate development by experts, innovators and helmet manufacturers of a new NFL helmet that outperforms, based on laboratory testing, all helmet models currently worn by NFL players,” according to the league, while a three-day symposium will be held in November with the aim of gathering experts from a variety of different industries in order to share ideas and innovations.
The NFL says the challenge will last around 18 months with applicants submitting their prototypes for lab testing in May 2021, where they will compete for the $1m prize.
Jeff Miller, Executive Vice President for Health and Safety Innovation, NFL said. “Helmet technology is advancing at an impressive rate. Yet, we believe that even more is possible. The NFL Helmet Challenge represents an unprecedented combination of financing, research, data and engineering expertise in an effort to create a more protective helmet.
“Innovation can be catalyzed if we engage with creative and talented people from across disciplines to attack this challenge together.”
Helmets have been at the forefront of a raging debate in the NFL in the build-up to the new season. New England Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown’s preferred model of helmet was banned by the league, who ruled that the helmet did not meet required safety standards, and Brown missed several pre-season games as a result.
Recently, basketballer LeBron James and his media company Uninterrupted launched the Glass Helmet Project, an initiative designed to empower young American football players by tackling the so-called Helmet Effect – where helmets obscure the faces of players, meaning they are less recognisable to the public as they could be when off the pitch – and encouraging players to be visible.
