A United States senator says that claims by two football helmet manufacturers violate the Federal Trade Commission Act, which forbids companies from making misleading statements about the safety of a product, and is demanding an investigation.
Tom Udall, Democrat of New Mexico, said in a letter to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz that the manufacturers were engaging in “misleading safety claims and deceptive practices” regarding the safety of their helmets. Udall also said that “some helmet reconditioning companies may be falsely selling used helmets as meeting an industry safety standard.”
The letter, as summarized by The New York Times, singled out Riddell, the official manufacturer of helmets for the National Football League (NFL), and Schutt, a leading competitor.
Allegedly misleading claims
Udall said Riddell has been making “misleading marketing claims” about its products, including a claim posted to its website that “research shows a 31 percent reduction in the risk of concussion in players wearing a Riddell Revolution football helmet when compared to traditional helmets.”
As to Schutt, the senator points to a bar graph in the company’s 2011 catalog illustrating that its DNA Pro + model has a safety score of 4.0, compared with 5.0 and 6.6 for other brands. The catalog, however, doesn’t explain what those numbers actually mean, or how they are measured.
Similarly, Schutt’s website claims that “Riddell Speed absorbed 24% less impact than the DNA Pro + while the Riddell Revolution absorbed 44% less impact than the DNA Pro +.” Again, however, the site makes no mention of how these numbers were reached or what they were measured against.
Concern for players’ safety
In a statement, Udall said he is “concerned for our young football players and their safety,” and hopes that “football helmet makers improve their products to address concussion risks.”
“It is simply unacceptable for sports equipment companies to falsely advertize their products to athletes, coaches and parents with claims of providing a level of safety that does not yet exist,” Udall said. He noted that “[s]ports are the second leading cause of traumatic brain injury for people who are 15- to 24-years-old, behind only motor vehicle crashes.”
The investigation comes almost three months after Rutgers University football player Eric LeGrand was paralyzed from the neck down while making a tackle during a game in October. LeGrand, who broke two vertebrae in his spine, was wearing a helmet, although it was not reported which brand. His injury has dominated local and national news and sparked renewed debate about the hazards of professional football.
