College football has seen its share of helmets rolling along the field. The NCAA’s new rule this season aims to change that.
Mick Hill, BYU Football’s Equipment manager said, “It’s [the rule] in place to protect the players – that’s a good thing. There have been some players that have engaged in a play after their helmet’s come off and have been hurt.”
The new rule says if a player loses his helmet in the middle of a play he has to stay out of the scramble, and he has to come out for the next play.
“During the off season we did a couple things to be a little proactive. On all of our helmet molds we applied what’s called a strap-lock system,” Hill explained.
The helmet chin straps have four anchor points, two of which BYU has put under the strap-lock system. This means they cannot be unbuckled. BYU football is also choosing less-slippery chin cups to keep helmets from sliding off.
Scot Dapp, chair of the NCAA Football Rules Committee says he expects this rule to have significant results and improve student-athlete safety.
Hill stated, “The closer you get to the end of the game, the more dramatic the change may be. I think it will change the game for somebody this year.”
The NCAA will review the rule at the end of the season to see if they will continue with the rule.
