Modern football helmets have a hard plastic outer shell and padding inside that combine to absorb a certain amount of impact. Prior to the advent of modern helmets and face guards, many ball carriers walked off the field looking like victims of a street fight. Plastic helmets greatly reduced those types of injuries but encouraged ball carriers to lead with their head, resulting in other types of injuries. Helmet manufacturers continue to work on new designs that address concussions and neck injuries, but football helmets should not be considered primary protection against collisions on the football field.
Construction
Football helmets have inner padding at the top of the head, temples, jawbones and base of the skull. Securely fastening the chinstrap prevents the helmet from coming off when running with the football and being tackled. Helmet manufacturers provide information, detailing the correct way to fit football helmets, and stress the importance of a proper fit. The combination of padding with the proper fit provides a degree of protection when ball carriers collide with a tackler.
Collisions
Ball carries are taught to protect the football before colliding with a tackler. One of the more prominent techniques for head-on collisions is tucking the chin and flexing the shoulders up. This widens the ball carrier's frontal profile, spreading the forces of impact over a larger area. An experienced running back knows how to avoid dangerous helmet-to-helmet collisions by absorbing the greater amount of impact with his shoulder pads.
Going to the Ground
Good coaches spend time teaching ball carriers how to protect the football and use their pads to absorb impact when tackled. Head injuries occur when a ball carrier's upper back hits first, causing the back of his head to snap violently against the ground. Ironically, the hard plastic shell that serves as a shield can cause injury when a player's helmet hits the ground in certain ways.
Summary
Without helmets, the game of tackle football might not exist today, but it is important that coaches and players understand the limits of protection afforded by a football helmet. The sense of confidence players get when they buckle their chinstraps and feel the padding against their heads translates into exciting action on the field. However, in spite of the advances in design, a football helmet is not intended to absorb most of the impact when being tackled.
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