Football helmets are arguably the most visually iconic uniform elements in all of sports, and they’re also at the center of the debate over football safety and concussions, so I’ve done my best over the years to cover the major developments in helmet design. In 2014, I wrote about the launch of the Riddell SpeedFlex, whose horseshoe-shaped flex panel looked bizarre at the time but has now become a familiar sight on the gridiron. In the years that followed, I delved into the Schutt F7 and the Vicis Zero1, both of which added new innovations to the helmet world, and at one point I even had the Riddell people scan my head to demonstrate their custom-fit system.
Each of these developments was heralded as a new breakthrough in helmet safety and performance, and each has gained a foothold in the helmet marketplace, both at the elite NFL/NCAA level and in the world of high school football (which is what really drives the helmet market, because, obviously, there are way more high school players than pro or college players).
