Notre Dame’s storied football program announced this week that the Fighting Irish would be the first team to outfit the majority of its roster with the new VICIS Zero1 helmet, which received the highest safety marks in a joint NFL/NFLPA biomechanical study of 33 helmets. The multilayered design works to absorb impact and mitigate the force to the head.
More than 20 NCAA squads and at least a dozen NFL teams have players wearing the Zero1 this fall — with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith and Seattle Seahawks teammates, quarterback Russell Wilson and wide receiver Doug Baldwin among the high-profile investors and wearers — but, to date, no team has had a majority of its roster wear the new helmet after a high-profile recall last year.
Seattle-based VICIS had distributed its helmets to two Pac-12 schools, the universities of Oregon and Washington, in August 2016 but ultimately directed the programs not to use the helmets due to problems with the forehead padding and chinstrap. Those problems have since been corrected and the early returns have been positive. Wilson, for instance, only became an investor after wearing his helmet for the first half of the current NFL season. VICIS recently opened sales to high school players for the 2018 season through its website.
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“Player safety has always been and will continue to be a top priority at Notre Dame,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said in a press release. “We already have some guys wearing the ZERO1 this year and, based on the positive feedback, we’re looking forward to near-full adoption next season.”
A PR agency manager confirmed that Notre Dame’s new helmets would have an exact color match, adhering to the school’s intricate painting schema that includes gold flakes from the Golden Dome.
“Notre Dame is the gold standard to which all other programs are measured, and its dedication to player safety further cements its status as the most iconic and revered program in college football,” Dave Marver, VICIS CEO and co-founder, said in the release.