Study: Football Hits Similar to Crashes

[Dedman]

Dang! 130 G's to the head? And we thought these guys were dumb before they started playing.


Sat Jan 3, 2:56 PM

By CHRIS KAHN, Associated Press Writer

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Football players were struck in the head 30 to 50 times per game and regularly endured blows similar to those experienced in car crashes, according to a Virginia Tech study that fitted players' helmets with the same kinds of sensors that trigger auto air bags.

University researchers are compiling a database of blows to the head their starting players endured this year, with plans to study how much trauma the brain can take. The study adds to a growing body of research into concussions, the blows to the head that helped end the careers of quarterbacks Troy Aikman of the Dallas Cowboys and Steve Young of the San Francisco 49ers, among others.

The data so far surprised team physician P. Gunnar Brolinson, who said he didn't realize players were absorbing so many serious hits, especially since only about five came off the sidelines this season with concussions.

"There are probably factors that we don't fully understand that make players better able to withstand higher accelerations (football hits) than other people," he said.

It's possible that some players can withstand stronger blows because they have stronger neck and shoulder muscles or that they're simply more robust genetically than others, Brolinson said.

The researchers recorded 3,312 hits during 35 practices and 10 games this season, rotating eight specially fitted helmets among 38 players. Project leader Stefan Duma said offensive linemen endured the most hits, followed by defensive linemen, running backs, linebackers, wide receivers and defensive backs. Quarterbacks recorded the fewest hits.

"If you ask somebody what kind of head injury are you going to worry about, everybody thinks of the receiver running down the sideline getting popped by the safety," Duma said. "But to me, the interesting part is going to be these lower speed but high frequency hits we're seeing on the (offensive and defensive) line. The fact that these players are getting headaches all the time after every game, there's something going on there."

Duma, an engineer who specializes in car crashes and safety equipment, plans to use the data to improve protective gear for players. The data also could help researchers understand and prevent concussions, a common condition in college football that can be hard to diagnose.

The helmets measure hits in multiples of the force of gravity. Half of the hits recorded this season were greater than 30 Gs, Duma said. The hardest hits measured more than 130 Gs.

"An impact of 120 Gs would be like a severe car accident, which you could survive if you were wearing a seat belt," Duma said.

Duma said Tech plans to expand the program using more helmets next year. With enough monitoring, he said, medical staffs should be able to reduce football concussions by accurately predicting the number and degree of blows a player can handle.

The monitoring helmets were developed by SIMBEX, a New Hampshire company that develops safety equipment. The system transmits the angle and severity of impacts from the helmets to a laptop Duma monitors from the sidelines.

SIMBEX founder and owner Rick Greenwald said his company will begin selling the monitoring system this year. Equipping a team of 50 to 75 players would cost $165,000 to $195,000, Greenwald said.

[JMEaT]

It doesn't surprise me that this study is happening 3 hours from my house.

[TheCops]

i caught the football touchdown. worship me. the 2nd grade teacher that taught me how to communicate makes 32,000 a year.

[Sage]

I got the NCAA footbal game for PS2 and my bro and I made a team called the Tucker Town Chimney Bats and on the team we got the BIG ****in gorillas. they're like 7foot and 450 pounds and they're like ****ing bears. we kill every team everytime because our team of mutant gorillas kick so much ass!

[Mobius]

If they want to study hits to the head, why not study boxing? DUH!

[Tyranny]

Because professional boxers don't wear helmets and football players take full body impact, not just the force generated from a punch.

Also they're developing better gear for football players to reduce the risk of head trauma and also better understand concussions to diagnose it sooner for proper treatment. READ MOBI!

Besides, Boxing is a joke here in the US these days and they wear the boxing gloves (even though they still do damage over prolonged careers) to reduce the chance of serious head injury. Imagine how short a boxers career would be if they faught closed fist no gloves

[HaAGen DaZS]

A "footballer" wears full body proctection.

So a boxer has the necessary "protection", and, OMG! so does a footballer.


I don't think we're ever going to agree on this, TY...

[Mobius]

It takes about 40G impact to the head to render someone unconscious (on average) for a short period of time (Only a second or so).

Good motorcycle crash helmets reduce the impact by a factor of around 40 depending on the barnd and the fit - if I recall my stats correctly.

This means your helmet can take a 1600G impact before you get knocked out through the helmet. During my motorcycling days, I always wore a custom fitted full-face "Kiwi" (Swedish helmet - go figure!) and got knocked out three times in various helmets. You chuck them away after a hit like that - regardless of how good they look - and in those days, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) of New Zealand paid to replace helmets which had suffered a crash where the rider recieved medical attention. (ALWAYS go to the doctor after a hit like that!) So over the years I got about $4000 worth of new helmets for free...

Even so - a good friend of mine once made the observation that if you are particpating in any activity which REQUIRES a full face helmet - then you probably shouldn't be doing it because the chances of serious injury, or death, are far too high.