For the upcoming NFL and college football season, fans could see players sporting a new helmet on the field, thanks to VICIS.
A Seattle-based startup helmet manufacturer founded in 2013, VICIS was recently named the No. 1 helmet as part of a NFL/NFLPA laboratory performance testing evaluation. Its VICIS ZERO1 received top honors among 33 total helmets being analyzed to see which ones best reduced head impact severity, with the likes of Riddell, Xenith and Schutt all represented. The results were then distributed to players, trainers, coaches and equipment managers.
The ZERO1 helmet has not previously been worn by NFL players, so according to the NFL, there is no field experience for them. That is set to change.
Though VICIS Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dave Marver declined to say which 25 NFL teams have purchased helmets for their players to be outfitted, he did say, “I have every expectation that you’ll see a number of NFL players wearing the ZERO1 this season.” Players like Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz are already being fitted for the ZERO1 to use during training camp.
“We are proud and pleased. It was very validating for us,” Marver said of the testing recognition. “You don’t start a company like this and put 80 hours a week into something unless you think you can make a difference and create something that’s better. Our aspiration and our expectation was that we would be first.”
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The positive news comes a few months after the company had a minor setback following the need to make refinements to its $1,500 helmet, something Marver called at the time a “difficult decision on many levels.” Both the University of Washington and University of Oregon football teams were using the VICIS helmets last August before they were pulled once some players experienced discomfort in their foreheads. VICIS eventually made modifications to the upper chinstrap placement and added extra padding to the helmet to combat the complaints.
Marver explained that in 2016, semi-pro football players along with ex-Division I and NFL players tested the ZERO1 helmet, giving VICIS engineers feedback on what they particularly liked about the helmet but also the areas that needed further improvements. One specific area to note was the field of view provided by the VICIS ZERO1. He said players collectively said that the helmet gave them the widest field of view of any helmets that they had ever tried on or competed with during a game.
He believes that VICIS has been “so warmly received by college and pro teams and players who are looking for better technology” because there’s a common sentiment that there hasn’t been enough innovation around football. For example, Marver mentioned the NFL’s HeadHealthTECH Challenge being created, in part, to bring new products, ideas and technology to the sport.
With the ZERO1 helmet, players and fans won’t hear a loud pop or crack but instead will hear a thud, as he explained. The multi-layers of the helmet all work cohesively so that it responds differently when impacted and thus, reduces the risk of head injury and trauma. As Marver alluded to earlier, fans may be able to see the new helmet technology on the gridiron in a matter of months, if not sooner, as players gear up for training camp and fall workouts.
“Today’s helmets are like cars from the ’60s and ’70s. They have a very hard outer shell, and that shell doesn’t yield or deform upon impact whereas ours…yields like a car bumper during a collision,” Marver said.
“Unlike a bumper, you don’t have to take our helmet to the body shop. It’s designed to withstand thousands of impacts and bounce right back.”