Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown is not the only NFL star who’s being forced to change helmets this season. Just the only one who’s threatening to quit football over it.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has also been forced to change helmets this season as the NFL eliminates certain helmet models that haven’t passed the rigorous safety testing that the league requires. But while Brady, like Brown, feels that his old helmet was comfortable and effective, he’s not going to fight the league over it.
“I’ve been experimenting with a couple different ones and I don’t really love the one I’m in, but I don’t really have much of a choice so I’m doing the best I can to work with it,” Brady said on WEEI. “My last helmet, I wore in four Super Bowls, so it was a pretty great helmet for me, and I hated to put it on the shelf, but that was what they said to do, so I’m dealing with it and working with something else.”
Brady’s response is the only rational one: Players are free to have their preferences, but ultimately the NFL and the NFL Players Association got together and set a standard for helmet safety, and if a player’s preferred model doesn’t make the cut, then that player has to change helmets. Whether applied to Brady, Brown or anyone else, the rule makes sense, and players need to accept it if they’re going to keep playing in the NFL.