I've said it a million times: if the NFL cares about making it safer, they need to mandate that all players have the latest and greatest technology available. Because we're talking about head injuries, let's start with the helmet:
Riddell has a HITS helmet that is incredible and the NFL should make EVERY SINGLE PLAYER WEAR ONE. Because Riddell can say it way better than I, I will post an excerpt here about that helmet now:
"For the first time in history, Riddell’s patented Head Impact Telemetry System (HITS™) records every frequency and severity of impacts to a player received during games and practices.
Riddell’s exclusive Head Impact Telemetry System (HITS) and Sideline Response System (SRS) technologies allow for easy and accurate sideline monitoring of on-field head impacts via wireless communication. The MX Encoder, part of the patented technology, provides on-board electronics in the helmet that monitor and record impacts while in use. The systems measure the location, magnitude, duration and direction of head impacts and impact accumulations and transmit that information wirelessly to the sideline. This provides coaches and medical staff with valuable information – in real-time if they choose – that can be used to identify potentially dangerous head impacts. The data is synchronized and stored in a secure database and is available to the user via simple to read reports designed to provide a deeper understanding of the impact exposure profile of the athlete."
It makes no sense whatsoever as to why the NFL doesn't have one of these helmets on every single player in the league and working with a company that can number crunch and extrapolate data such as Google so they can translate it into something meaningful. If you take this data and combine it with injury reports and film they'll have a greater understanding of how injuries happen, how to prevent them, and how to prevent the occurance and frequency of them.
If they only started there it would be more than enough I think.
