The UVA Center for Applied Biomechanics is helping the NFL make pro football safer. The center’s efforts include evaluating the safety of footwear and helmets, along with thigh, knee, hip and shoulder pads.
Here’s an interesting fact from Jeff Crandall, the center’s director:
“Regarding concussions, over the years we have seen shifts in the scenarios causing injury as a result of rule changes implemented by the NFL to reduce helmet-to-helmet impacts. Twenty years ago, two of every three concussions involved helmet-to-helmet impact. Now, only a little over a third of concussions involve helmet-to-helmet impacts, but now roughly a quarter involve helmet-to-shoulder impacts. So, we are focusing now on how to engineer shoulder pads that are safer for a player impacting that pad with their helmet.”
Ahead of the big game, I thought you might eJefnjoy reading about the center’s work. Check out the story on UVA Today.