Football is a complicated sport. Millions of Americans are obsessed with watching it, betting on it and reading about it, but those that play the game are in almost constant danger. Not only is it the sport itself fraught with peril, but the equipment used to protect players can also cause injuries themselves. Every player wears shoulder pads to protect the upper body and the pads do their job very well. However, a linebacker who lowers his shoulder and leads with those hard, plastic shoulder pads can cause serious damage to the player that he is hitting. The force generated can create a whiplash-type impact on the player who is being hit. As a result, many players will choose to wear a neck roll to protect that vulnerable part of the body from the full impact of the hit. A neck roll or neck pad simply prevents the neck from limiting the movement of the head in a backwards directions. This is the cause of many cervical injuries and the neck roll can go a long way toward limiting the damage done from those type of hits.
What to Look for
There is nothing complicated about the design of the neck roll. It is a dense padded material that normally attaches to the shoulder pads with straps and sits on the back of the neck. By its precise positioning, the neck roll can absorb the force of an excessive blow and prevent catastrophic injury. The neck roll can also be segmented to provide additional protection on hits that come from the side. The neck and upper spine can also be damaged with a shot from the side in addition to the head-on hit. A segmented neck roll will go a long way toward protecting that most vulnerable part of the body.
Common Pitfalls
A neck roll is a device that will help prevent catastrophic cervical injuries in many circumstances--but not all. The neck roll absorbs the energy that is used to make a devastating hit, tackle or block, but there is still no practical device available to rid the sport of the horrific sight of a player strapped to a gurney, unable to move any of his extremities. Even those who are totally consumed by football know that this kind of devastating injury cannot be mitigated and much progress still needs to be made on the technological front so that all of these type of catastrophic injuries can be prevented. Neck rolls can be purchased at sporting goods stores at prices ranging from $10-75 and they come with a written warning that using the device is not a guarantee against a devastating injury.
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