"When players take the field at the start of the NFL season, many will be sporting the new, subtly different F7 Pro helmet, which some have speculated might be the safest one football has ever seen. That's significant for a sport that, over the past two decades, has become as well known for concussions as end zone celebrations. Schutt Sports, which makes the F7 Pro, claims that 35 percent of active NFL athletes have already adopted the helmet."
"The Schutt model he had worn for several years - the Schutt Air XP Pro Q11 LTD - was just banned by the NFL for failing its increasingly stringent safety standards, and he's been struggling to adapt to an updated version - the Schutt Air XP Pro VTD II - saying that it " looks like a spaceship." (He wasn't a fan of the F7 Pro, either.)"
""I've only designed sporting goods for over 25 years and in almost every other sporting goods product that I've ever been involved in, everybody wants the new thing," Neubauer says. "But in the football helmet industry, that's kind of the opposite. Usually if you bring out a completely new football helmet that's never been seen before and it looks totally different, it usually takes two or three years for it really to hit its stride.""
Schutt's F7 Pro helmet has seen rapid uptake among NFL players, with the company reporting 35 percent adoption. The helmet is presented as subtly different and possibly the safest helmet yet, amid two decades of heightened concern over concussions. NFL equipment rules recently banned the Schutt Air XP Pro Q11 LTD, forcing some players to adjust to newer Schutt models. Some players resist visibly different helmets, citing appearance and comfort. Jason Neubauer notes football players are slower to adopt radical helmet design changes, often requiring two to three years for widespread use. The F7 Pro follows a year with notable concussion and lower extremity injury rates.
Read at The Verge
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