Helmet to helmet collisions are illegal at every level of football, but sometimes, unavoidable. So why not change the helmet entirely? That was the thought of Vicis CEO Dave Marver as he saw the sport in jeopardy.
Jake Jones / KULR 8 Television
“Traditional helmets, they have a hard outter shell, and some padding on the inside,” said Marver. “So they’re sort of like cars that used to be designed back in the 50’s and 60’s. They wouldn’t yield in a collision. The difference is that a football helmet, you can’t take it to the body shop after each collision.”
It’s this exact problem that inspired Marver and his partners to create the Zero1 helmet.
“We instead engineered a helmet that has multiple layers, and sophisticated materials and structures,” said Marver. “It actually does yield or give like a car bumper, or a crumple zone does on a modern car on impact. And it bounces back to it’s original shape in a matter of miliseconds.”
With it’s reflex layer underneath the pliable shell, the Zero1 has columns that can shift to absorb impact, and actually buckle to limit any impact on the player’s head. It’s this kind of technology that makes the Zero1 the NFL Player Association’s top ranked helmet for the second year in a row.
“We’re extemely rigorous with our testing,” said Marver. “And we go above and beyond the same standards that are out there today. Our smash lab, our own test facility here right next to our engineering center in Seattle, has all the same equiptment that the NFL uses, and we have the equpitment used by our US military.”
Just over 100 high school football players across the country got to use the Zero1 helmet last season. And I know what you’re thinking, those are probably all big city kids, not so much. One of those helmets making it’s way to the Treasure State, in White Sulphur Springs, with a population of just under 1000 people. Bill Hanson got a chance to use it last year for the Hornets football team, and well, he was pretty impressed.
“Just whenever you get hit in the head you, you feel it a lot less,” said Hanson. “And it doesn’t jiggle around as much. It just basically absorbs most of it.”
Hanson was all state at tight end and defensive line for the Hornets, who lost in the 6-man state semifinals. But how he came about the helmet is an interesting story.
“My parents run an outfitting business, and one of the hunters worked with Vicis,” said Hanson. “And he said he’d make a trade, a hunt for a helmet, so we just took him out hunting for a week.”
That’s a deal that I’m sure many families would have easily jumped on. When the Zero1 debuted last fall, it ran for $1500. Now the price per helmet has dropped to $950, but that’s still a steep price for many teams to pay.
“The technology that Bill Hanson has on his head is state of the art technology,” said White Sulphur Springs head football coach Travis Norvark. “I wish we could afford to pad up all of our kids in that helmet, unfortunately to get that kind of protection you’ve got to pay for it. It’s something these smaller schools can’t afford, but yeah I would love to see every kid on the field with one of those helmets.”
Last season over 70 NFL players wore the Zero1, including Seattle quarterback Russel Wilson. This season they expect over 150 players to be wearing the Zero1, and have major universities, such as Notre Dame, committed to using the helmet this fall, as well as a contract with the Big 12 conference
