Don’t say it can’t be done either…it has already been done, yet Roger Goodell and water carriers like Mike Florio continue to believe the game is the problem and should be changed…RATHER THAN fixing the damn helmets.

The “ProCap” has successfully protected players who’s careers were in jeopardy due to frequent or severe concussions, dating back to the 1980s.

Both Steve Wallace (49ers OT) and before him, Mark Kelso (Bills Safety), wore the ProCap and extended their careers by many years because they did use the ProCap. Both Wallace and Kelso retired on their terms, rather than being forced to retire due to concussions.

In short, the ProCap worked…

Yet Roger Goodell and the NFL continue to try to change the game rather than mandating the use of a safer helmet. It absolutely defies common sense.

The original ProCap was a tough polyurethane foam shell stuck to a standard hard helmet with velcro…a very simple fix that has been successfully used in the NFL.

Today’s football helmet does not give much better protection than the helmets I used back in the late 60s and early 70s…a rock hard outer shell with padding and inflatable air bags positioned inside.

Using foam padding on the outside of NFL helmets actually predates the ProCap. Hall of Fame linebacker, Willie Lanier used padding on the outside of his helmet after he suffered a very serious concussion his rookie season.

A KC Chiefs trainer got the idea of adding wide strip of padding (front to back) to the outside of Lanier’s helmet…AND IT WORKED ! Willie Lanier wore that helmet the rest of his hall of fame career, from late 1967 to the end of the 1977 season.

Over the last two years, researchers and engineers at Virginia Tech have conducted tests on the helmets used by the NFL. I spoke to one of the lead engineers on the testing project and asked him if he was aware of the ProCap. He was not only aware of the ProCap, he told me the engineering department had a ProCap…but it was not included in the testing along with the other NFL helmets.

This engineer did not know why the ProCap was not included in the testing or who made the decision not to test it…but the engineer admitted the ProCap “would test better” than any of the helmets included in their testing.

I spoke to the individual who invented the ProCap and he knows his product provides better protection against brain trauma than any of today’s helmets, yet the NFL refuses to mandate the use of the ProCap.

He did tell me that “one doctor” provided an opinion for the NFL that claimed individuals using the ProCap would be at risk of neck injuries because the softer outside of a helmet with a ProCap would not slide off as easily in helmet to helmet contact.

Did the NFL’s doctor doing any testing to arrive at this conclusion?….NO!…the NFL did no testing to back up their claims against the use of the ProCap.

Roger Goodell and the NFL continues to ignore the one product than has been proven by NFL players, to reduce and virtually eliminate the risk of concussion…that product is the ProCap.

This is not rocket science folks…you can only add so much padding to the inside of helmet. Time to face the facts that adding a soft shell on the outside of a helmet is the fix that is needed, “IF” the NFL’s priority is player safety.

So far, based on the actions of the NFL, one can only conclude that player safety is not a priority for Roger Goodell and the NFL…fining players for accidental helmet to helmet contact is the NFL’s answer to the problem.

Happy Thanksgiving…mac

That said, brutal call during the game and it’s crazy that he gets a fine for it, basically the new rule is that “hard hits” to WR’s are illegal…..we are seriously 5-10 years from flag football

Actually, no it doesn’t, he lead with the shoulder as others have mentioned. I guess you see what you want to see though. I find it hilarious that you post a shaky video recorded by a 12 year old to justify your argument though..well done…

Close game, gotta hit the WR making a play. Perhaps it hurt poor little Ogletree, but a penalty and a fine? Naw. That was just football.

Tougher call than a false start, I guess. Oh, wait…

Article 9 It is a foul if a player initiates unnecessary contact against a player who is in a defenseless posture.

(a) Players in a defenseless posture are:

(2) A receiver attempting to catch a pass; or who has completed a catch and has not had time to
protect himself or has not clearly become a runner.

(b) Prohibited contact against a player who is in a defenseless posture is:

(1) Forcibly hitting the defenseless player’s head or neck area with the helmet, facemask, forearm, or shoulder, regardless of whether the defensive player also uses his arms to tackle the defenseless player by encircling or grasping him;

Look at the link above…at the 0:27 mark, you see Ward’s facemask facing away from Ogletree, you then see Ogletree’s head move when Buster Skrine hits him from behind, not when Ward hit him. Then look at the other angle at the 0:41 mark, here you see Ward’s head beside Ogletree’s helmet, not hitting it. You again see Ogletree’s head move, but that is from the combination of his falling into the hit and Ward’s shoulder (which he led with) hitting the facemask as he is falling down.

I get that they are trying to protect player safety, but they have to really analyze the video before they decide to fine players. This fine is based on 2 things. 1…Cowboy receiver. 2. There was a flag thrown for “helmet to helmet hit on a defenseless receiver” and the commish’s office needed to bail out the referees from that game.

Better than broken necks and brain injuries. I honestly thought Ogletree’s might have had a spinal injury on that hit. Textbook blow to the head of a defenseless receiver. Good flag, good fine.

Actually the video suggest he was leading with his shoulder Yes, thats the part of Ward’s body that hits first). Yes their helmets hit, but side to side. If he had been hitting any non Cowboys player, no fine.

I saw the hit live, he did lead with his shoulder. He was shaken up because he was blasted in the front and back at the same time. Throw into tight coverage and that’s what you get.

It should be a half-million dollars and a game suspension, because I know this T.J. Ward fellow, and I’ve seen him tackle someone before. His tackling in no way resembles hugs. He didn’t give Ogletree a present afterward, either.

Truly vicious intent.

The NFL has gone from the National Football League to the Nothing but Fines League!

Now we will see more broken ribs and shoulder injuries…

This is no less transparent than Goodell claiming he’d accept one dollar a year salary during the labor strife.

If Goodell (and the League) cared about player safety — there’d have been a whole lot more support for decades worth of retired ballers — guys who really need the support.