Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Anyone remember the padded helmet Willie Lanier wore back in the 70s? Was it effective in terms of lessening CTE (a term which I assume didn't exist back then)?

yes --- very much.

Wore Gladiator helmet towards the end with the pad

Here are some shots of others with various pads .. some custom, some factory models
https://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com ... ities.html

Coincidently (or not?) today is Willie's 79th birthday...
Anyone know how his brain is holding up?

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... niWi00.htm

JohnTurney wrote: ↑Thu Aug 22, 2024 12:18 am yes --- very much.

Wore Gladiator helmet towards the end with the pad

Here are some shots of others with various pads .. some custom, some factory models
https://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com ... ities.html

Interesting stuff. I didn't know that the padding was used that often. I think Ohio State had helmets like this in the 1960s.

Remember the extra cap/shell that Steve Wallace wore on his helmet for the Niners? I think I would rather see that, than the Guardian Caps that players can officially wear in games for this season.

JohnTurney wrote: ↑Thu Aug 22, 2024 12:18 am yes --- very much.

Wore Gladiator helmet towards the end with the pad

Here are some shots of others with various pads .. some custom, some factory models
https://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com ... ities.html

Has anyone studied these padded helmets to see how effective they were?

Brian wolf wrote: ↑Thu Aug 22, 2024 10:56 am Remember the extra cap/shell that Steve Wallace wore on his helmet for the Niners? I think I would rather see that, than the Guardian Caps that players can officially wear in games for this season.

I forgot about Wallace, but I agree, if his padded shell was effective, players should wear that rather than the Guardian caps.

Thanx for the reminder.

fgoodwin wrote: ↑Thu Aug 22, 2024 4:39 pm
Has anyone studied these padded helmets to see how effective they were?

Don't know. I would wonder if there were enough players TO study ... if talking about NFL.
Good question.

JuggernautJ wrote: ↑Thu Aug 22, 2024 12:37 am Coincidently (or not?) today is Willie's 79th birthday...
Anyone know how his brain is holding up?

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... niWi00.htm

He interviewed for a project I'm working on about a year ago and he was doing great at least at that time. Really smart guy. Great to chat with. For a while at least he was on facebook and you may still be able to follow him there.

I recall there was some question about padding on the outside of helmets, although I don't recall the year. The question was whether the padding would add to the torque and risk damage to the neck. Thus, the thought was that some sort of slick covering might help.