Background

Football Should Be Safer

Safe-Tac Specs

Football should be safer ... it starts with teaching and tracking proper technique

Keep your head up. Do not butt, ram, spear, or strike an opponent with any part of this helmet or facemask. This is a violation of football rules and may cause you to suffer severe brain or neck injury, including paralysis or death and possible injury to your opponent.

The statement above is taken from the warning label that is affixed to every football helmet sold today. The wording is direct and to the point because this is an issue that should not be ignored.

Current discussion (and litigation) concerning the effects of concussions, CTE and a push to avoid injuries, has led us to offer a football helmet impact verification label. Using our proprietary impact material, we have designed a label to be used on the crown of a football helmet. In many cases injures can result due to poor technique, mainly leading with the crown of the helmet while tackling or blocking. This can be accidental, but is generally the result of a lack of awareness by the player that they are even committing this offense, unless they are penalized for it during play. The dangers of helmet to helmet, contact, spearing, and leading with the head are well documented.

A Safe-Tac impact recording label is affixed to the helmet during practice sessions. The label will clearly show areas of impact and severity based on mark size. They are easily affixed, shred resistant and able to be removed intact without residue. Space is provided for the player name and date to be written onto the label. Labels can be photographed or kept as a session record. The goal is safety through the ability to identify and correct dangerous behavior that a player might not even realize they engage in. This is not intended to be a punitive process, but rather one rooted in teaching and reinforcing the safest techniques.

Due to parental concerns about head, neck and spinal injuries while playing football at a young age and the chilling effect it could have on participation, this is an opportunity to teach proper technique at a players earliest stages. Correcting bad habits at that point would be easier, but no less important, then addressing them later in a players career. Quick to install and remove, producing no hinderance to play/practice, as well as being extremely low cost, makes this an effective way to teach, verify and avoid injury, long-term mental/physical impairment or litigation.

Longshot’s proven proprietary material is ideally suited to this purpose. Designed to accurately record points of contact while being thin, light, durable, shred resistant and able to be removed easily without residue. In addition to the stock format, the shape can be can be custom configured to fit any helmet model, printed with tailored graphics or modified as needed. Our over 37 years of experience producing impact recorders of all types, guarantees quality and performance.

Patent Pending

jkrause@longshotgolf.com … www.longshotgolf.com

LongShot Golf R … Own Your Swing TM … Don’t Just Play, Play Better TM … are trademarks of LongShot Golf

The Case For Safe-Tac … Football Safety Verification

Football can be safer ... it has been a lot worse, but it can always be better

Keep your head up … Do not butt, ram, spear, or strike an opponent with any part of this helmet or facemask. This is a violation of football rules and may cause you to suffer severe brain or neck injury, including paralysis or death and possible injury to your opponent.

The statement above is taken from the warning label that is affixed to all new football helmets. The wording is very

direct and to the point because this is an issue that should not be ignored. The prime goal of Safe-Tac is safety

through the ability to identify and correct dangerous behavior that a player might not even be aware they engage

in. This is not meant to be a punitive exercise, but rather one rooted in teaching and promoting proper techniques.

How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football … Early on, with little protective equipment, players sustained gruesome injuries—

wrenched spinal cords, crushed skulls and broken ribs that pierced their hearts. The Chicago Tribune reported that in 1904

alone, there were 18 football deaths and 159 serious injuries, mostly among prep school players. In the 1905 football

season there were 19 player deaths and 137 serious injuries. Obituaries of young pigskin players ran on a regular basis

during the season. The carnage appalled America. Newspaper editorials called on colleges and high schools to banish all

football. The sport reached such a crisis that one of its biggest boosters—President Theodore Roosevelt—got involved.

Roosevelt used his bully pulpit. He urged the Harvard coaches and other leading football authorities to push for radical rule

changes, and he invited other school leaders to the White House in the offseason. An intercollegiate conference, which

would become the forerunner of the NCAA, approved comprehensive rule changes related to safety for the 1906 season.

History has a way of repeating itself, and it wouldn’t take much with the reach and speed of social media to rapidly

turn public sentiment in a negative direction, especially if injuries to young people were involved.

Due to parental concern about head, neck and spinal injuries while playing football and the chilling effect it could have on

participation, this is an opportunity to advocate for proper teaching and guidance at every age. Correcting bad habits early

would be easier, but no less important, then addressing them at any time in a players career. Football is a fast, instinctive

game so players may not even be aware, without visual verification, that part of their own skill set includes potentially

dangerous habits. An opportunity exists for the governing bodies of football at all levels, or at a minimum, the parts of those

organizations charged with player safety, to proactively be involved in adopting this highly visible, low cost tool. The value

lies in promoting another layer of injury prevention for players, plus being able to build upon and demonstrate an image of

maximum concern for player safety. The current scrutiny of concussions, the long term effect of multiple impact events,

plus the possibility of debilitating neck and spinal compression injuries, makes a compelling case for more action.

Longshot’s proven proprietary material is ideally suited to this purpose. Designed to accurately record points of contact

while being thin, light, durable, shred resistant and able to be removed easily without residue. In addition to the stock

format, the shape can be custom configured to fit any helmet model, printed with tailored graphics or modified as needed.

Fully functional prototype samples are always provided for testing upon request. Quick to install and remove, producing

no hinderance to play/practice, as well as being extremely low cost, makes this an effective way to teach, verify

and avoid injury, long-term mental/physical impairment or litigation. For over 37 years LongShot’s experience