April 12, 2025
The NFL hopes to convince nearly one-third of its players to wear new models of helmets as part of an attempt to reduce the risk of head injuries, league leaders said.
The effort will be made in collaboration with the NFL Players Association, league officials said Friday as they released the latest results of the annual laboratory testing of helmets to measure the performance of different models in simulated on-field impacts.
This round of testing came after a season in which the league said players suffered the fewest number of concussions in its recorded history.
“While we’re thrilled that we saw the fewest number of concussions ever in the NFL last year, we believe that based on equipment alone we can see an even enhanced ability to protect players and enhance their safety this season,” Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications, public affairs and policy, said during a video news conference.
According to the NFL’s data, about 18 percent of players wore top-performing helmet models last season. About 50 percent of players wore models that put them at a 5 percent increased risk of concussions. About 30 percent of players wore helmets that put them at a 27 percent increased risk. Less than 2 percent of players wore helmet models that put them at a 35 percent increased risk.
As technologically superior helmet models that perform better in lab impact testing are released annually, the league moves older models into categories that are either not recommended or prohibited entirely. While the models worn by the 30 percent of players last season will not be prohibited next season, officials said, the league and the NFLPA will attempt to convince those players to switch to newer helmets that performed better in testing.
“We’re very encouraged by the fact that the 2024 season marked the largest safety improvement in helmets worn on-field since 2021,” said Dawn Aponte, the NFL’s chief football administrative officer. “That said … we have approximately 30 percent of players across the league who will need to upgrade their helmets this offseason from those newly prohibited or the ‘not recommended’ models to ensure that they are wearing the best-performing helmets in 2025.”
Helmets in the “not recommended” category each have a comparable, updated model made by the same manufacturer so that players can make a seamless transition, Aponte said, adding that players can wear customized helmets made to fit after head-scan measurements and with adjustable padding.
The results of the annual helmet testing are displayed on posters in teams’ locker rooms. According to Aponte, NFL officials also spoke to teams’ coaches and general managers at the recent annual league meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, about encouraging greater use by players of higher-performing helmets.
“We are optimistic that with the increased education and the data-sharing as well as utilizing the poster, more and more players will move into those better-performing helmets,” Aponte said.
Seven new helmet models have been tested by the NFL and the NFLPA, and according to the league, all ranked in the “top performing” category. The NFL added it has newly prohibited seven helmet models that were previously in the “not recommended” category.
The NFLPA’s influence kept the NFL from immediately prohibiting more models, according to Miller.
“I think if it were solely up to the NFL, we would prohibit more helmets immediately,” Miller said. “The Players Association wants to work with players and educate them and encourage them to move to the best-performing helmets. And we will work with them on that.”
The helmets tested include position-specific models made for quarterbacks, linemen and wide receivers and cornerbacks.
The league said last year that wearing one of the best-performing helmet models would enable a player to avoid the requirement to wear protective Guardian Caps over their helmets during practice. Even as some players opted to wear Guardian Caps during games last season, league officials stressed that wearing a top-performing helmet offered an amount of protection comparable to wearing a traditional helmet plus a Guardian Cap, without the additional weight from a cap.
League health and safety leaders have said their efforts to curb concussions include equipment advances, rule changes, modifications to allowable practice-field hitting, player education, evolving evaluation and return-to-play protocols and other measures.