Really a coach....not FB though! Also not creative with my screen names. I do not know why a chin strapped helmet, properly fitted by a certified coach would ever come off your head.
New helmet rule
- Thread starter CycloneWarrior
- Start date
With all the brain issues some players have later in life and lawsuits that can be filled at any time the NCAA and colleges need this rule to show they are trying to protect the players as best they can.
Hence why we have this rule. Headgear isn't comfortable in wrestling, but there is a reason it is there in high school and college competition.
You guys are bat **** crazy if you think that the equipment guy just gives them a helmet and says "here you go, and good luck!"
Equipment guys spend countless amounts of time fitting and re-fitting helmets. It is their job to be very thorough when fitting equipment, especially helmets and shoulder pads. With my experence with helmets is that they are much safer than they have been in the past with the new technologies inside them, but with these improved technologies I believe there is a catch 22 where the helmet is more prone to come off unexpectedly. Also- having you chinstrap undone is not a fad or is cool. They come undone sometimes and the player is unaware that it is undone. Everyone is just more aware of it because of the emphasis that has been put on it this season so far.
Worked in equipment for a while and I know how to fit a helmet. Never did I call out any equipment managers. A certified person fitting a helmet can give a player a great fitting helmet, and if the player doesn't buckle it up it can definitely come off.
Helmets lose a little air over time and if the player never says anything about it, it's not likely the equipment person will catch it unless it's very loose, especially with 120+ players to watch. They aren't re-fit every week. Players with a good fit -- and this isn't a rule, just an observation -- take off their helmet and have faint indentations in their hair or a red spot on their forehead in the shape of the interior pads. Some helmets do fit around dreadlocks better, or around heads with a more/less pronounced occipital or frontal bone.
I cringe when I watch high school and lower football games and see helmets rattling around, or hear of players personally shaving down pads inside of helmets because it was all that was left but was too small for them.
The only problem with your statement that I quoted before is that the athletes are not going out and leaving their straps undone purposely. If I am not mistaken there are already rules in place about having your equipment (helmets/shoulder pads) buckled at all times.
No doubt that the helmet can loose some its "elasticity" and no doubt it is hard to keep track of 120+ athletes, but an equipment guy does know the 30-40 that will see the majority of playing time and focus in on those athletes and "try" to make sure that everything is correct.
And you're assuming players aren't readjusting those helmets afterward. As others have mentioned, you can see players pulling their helmets off with no resistance. I doubt those started that way on the first day of practice. This rule gives the coaches a reason to enforce having tight helmets.
- Mar 27, 2006
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this.
And like what someone pointed out earlier, it's about the NCAA covering their butts against future legal action.
in year one and maybe two, this rule will really hurt some teams. eventually, coaches, equip managers, nike, adida, teammates, etc. will make sure this doesn't happen. if those aforementioned make the extra effort, helmets should rarely, if ever, pop off during play. players need to look out for one another. just like when a shoulder pad pops out. you always see a teammate come over and put it back. eventually players will start to notice a strap not buttoned up.
there will be some growing pains for sure. as someone mentioned above JG had to come out for a 4th & 1. crucial.
