Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Football helmets were long treated like just another piece of equipment — no different from socks or shoulder pads. But as concern about concussions and brain injuries in football grew, it became clear that helmet design needed to evolve.
Dr. Samuel Browd, a pediatric neurosurgeon and professor of neurology at UW Medicine, saw that firsthand while working the sidelines for the Seattle Seahawks. Noticing how little helmet technology had changed, he partnered with Dr. Per Reinhall and engineers at the University of Washington to rethink the football helmet from the ground up.
Together, they redesigned the helmet to better protect the brain, focusing on the rotational forces that play a major role in concussions. The result was a new helmet design worn everywhere from the Super Bowl to youth football fields in Dr. Browd’s neighborhood.
This is Research Improves Lives — a series from UW Medicine.
Learn more about the people and discoveries behind the science:
uwmedicine.org/about/research-improves-lives
#Football #Concussions #BrainInjury #SportsSafety #UWMedicine #ResearchImprovesLives
Football helmets were long treated like just another piece of equipment — no different from socks or shoulder pads. But as concern about concussions and brain injuries in football grew, it became clear that helmet design needed to evolve.
Dr. Samuel Browd, a pediatric neurosurgeon and professor of neurology at UW Medicine, saw that firsthand while working the sidelines for the Seattle Seahawks. Noticing how little helmet technology had changed, he partnered with Dr. Per Reinhall and engineers at the University of Washington to rethink the football helmet from the ground up.
Together, they redesigned the helmet to better protect the brain, focusing on the rotational forces that play a major role in concussions. The result was a new helmet design worn everywhere from the Super Bowl to youth football fields in Dr. Browd’s neighborhood.
This is Research Improves Lives — a series from UW Medicine.
Learn more about the people and discoveries behind the science:
uwmedicine.org/about/research-improves-lives
#Football #Concussions #BrainInjury #SportsSafety #UWMedicine #ResearchImprovesLives
