NEW YORK — Did some helmet manufacturers design models with the purpose of testing well rather than performing properly on the field?
Possibly, but the lab testing by the biomechanical engineers appointed by the league and its players' union accounted for such a practice in the rankings for the annual helmets poster that is displayed at every team facility.
In the study, rotational velocity and acceleration are measured to evaluate helmets to determine which best reduced head impact severity. The poster was released last month and showed six of 11 helmets tested this year moved into the top-10 rated models.