Rawlings

Bill Simpson Enters Football Helmet Race

Dustin Fink10 Comments

As we learn more about the concussion issue there are people trying their hardest to provide as much protection as possible for those that play the game.  From new assessment techniques to proper rehabilitation of the injury there is a myriad of different ways we can help out.  The most important is erasing the stigma and educating all those involved in sports, particularly football.

Right now (and for the discernible future) there is no equipment, including helmets, that can protect/attenuate/prevent concussions, it is just a physics impossibility.  However technology has come a long way in reducing the force transmitted to the head via helmets, with Riddell, Schutt and Xenith being the main focus and Rawlings a recent entry.  There have been a lot of people looking at auto racing helmets for their ability to disperse forces, but there is a problem with them. Continue reading →

Another New Helmet

Dustin Fink5 Comments

Last week we focused on the Austin Collie prototype helmet that we discovered via still images.  I am working very hard on cracking the case with firm information, a lot of hearsay abound. In the meantime I have also discovered that there is ANOTHER new helmet on the field this year, I have found it on the head of Steven Jackson of the St. Louis Rams.

While tying to get the information for the Collie helmet, I tripped upon Rawlings website where they are promoting an adult version of their youth helmet they have previously manufactured; the NRG Quantum, surfing through the site I saw Jackson wearing the helmet I was unaware existed.  Next, I looked at pictures from camp and did in fact Continue reading →

Edit: Matthew Gfeller Center Hosting Symposium

Dustin Fink1 Comment

The National Sports Concussion Cooperative (NSCC) that was launched in March is meeting up as the Matthew Gfeller Cetner is hosting a symposium this upcoming weekend.  The NSCC is championed by;

These four entities have come together for the goal of reducing the incidence of sports-related concussions with the formation of a cooperative to bring interdisciplinary collaboration to concussion research and testing.

The National Sports Concussion Cooperative will hold its founding organizational meeting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on May 2, 2011, to develop an agenda by which it will identify the most pressing concussion objectives in sports and set a course for assessing their significance through research and peer review. After the meeting, additional partners will be engaged to consider joining the collaborative effort and finalize the objectives for each stakeholder group.

The event this weekend, April 29 and 30, titled “Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Neurotrauma Symposium”, will bring together “experts” within the field of research, clinical and equipment manufacturing to share their thoughts on the concussion issue.  The chair for the symposium is Jason Mihalik, Ph.D., any media requests for him should be directed to Patric Lane, (919) 962-8596, patric_lane@unc.edu.

The full press release is as follows; Continue reading →