Tom Brady has to change big part of his uniform after NFL ruling
The NFL is banning 10 types of helmets for failing safety tests, including one that’s regularly worn by New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Six helmets will be banned effective immediately, while four can be used this year, but only by players who wore them last season.
One of those banned helmets, the Riddell VSR4, has been utilized by Brady up to this point, according to Sports Illustrated’s Jenny Vrentas. Brady can wear his Riddell VSR4 this year, but must find a new helmet in 2019.
The Riddell VSR4, which Brady had been wearing, is one of the 4 still allowed for players who wore it in 2017 but disallowed for new players. https://t.co/c918m52MnZ
— Jenny Vrentas (@JennyVrentas) April 16, 2018
“The prohibited helmets perform poorly in laboratory testing, have been discontinued by the manufacturer, or were produced by companies no longer manufacturing football helmets,” read a joint statement from the league and the NFL Players Association.
Here’s the new NFL helmet poster. If yours is in red, time for a new one. pic.twitter.com/ipRT7QSHuV
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 16, 2018
Previously, players could wear any helmet that passed National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment certification standards, the statement said.
However, tests conducted for the NFL by Biokinetics Inc. of Ottawa, Canada, looked into 34 helmet models to determine which best protected the head from impact. Twenty-four of those helmet types were deemed satisfactory.
About 200 players wore helmets in 2017 that are now on the banned list, Vrentas reported.
The change affects about 200 players league-wide who wore helmets in the now-prohibited class in 2017.
— Jenny Vrentas (@JennyVrentas) April 16, 2018
Brady has been wearing the Riddell VSR4 for most of his career.
Patriots QB Tom Brady enters Super Bowl 52 with a Riddell VSR4, paired with an OPO facemask and a Riddell softcup chinstrap. He has briefly tried a Revo Speed in 2012, a Schutt Air XP in 2011, and a Revolution in the early 2000's. pic.twitter.com/aXWi9tB2zL
— Helmet Stalker (@HelmetStalker) February 4, 2018
Along with Brady, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is among those players who will have to find a new helmet, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
ESPN reported that this is the first time the NFL has banned specific helmets.
“Over the last few years, we’ve seen some dynamic changes in the helmet industry,” said Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president of health and safety initiatives. “We’ve seen a number of new helmets enter the market from both new innovators, as well as new helmet models from incumbent companies, which means that there are a number of helmets for players to move to.”
“And we’ve begun to see that over the last couple of years, players (are) moving from helmets that rank in the poorly performing areas to those that are ranging closer to the top-performing helmets. We think that is an important move, and we think that will improve player health and safety. And the purpose of continuing to rank the helmets, and the purpose of the joint decision to prohibit certain helmets this year, is to increase that continued movement into better-performing helmets,” Miller added.
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