The new NFL helmet against Covid-19, called the Oakley Mouth Shield, has already been a matter of controversies around countless players around the league, and while the NFL doesn’t state that it’s mandatory, their experts vastly encourage it to protect players from the coronavirus:

“That’s certainly what we’re going to encourage. And we hope that we’re going to land on a product design that’s something that everyone would want to wear, because they’ll see the value and want that additional protection without any detriment to performance,”saidthe NFL’s chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Sills.

New NFL Helmets: Oakley Mouth Shield

According to ESPN andNFL’s engineering committee Dr. Jeff Crandall, the helmet features airways in the mouth shield that are specifically designed to not allow the direct transmission of droplets or saliva. Moreover, the new NFL helmet against Covid-19 also features the Oakley Prizm Lens Technology which is also used by the military and skiers to enhance color vision in their visors.

Then again, stars like JJ Watt have already taken a stand against these kinds of helmets by claiming that the feeling of claustrophobia and poor vision are just too tough to overcome while they’re on the field.

Who Makes The NFL Helmets?

The new NFL helmets against Covid-19 are made by Oakley. The company tested the mouth shields by spraying fluid particles to mimic saliva and droplets expelled by the players and the results were allegedly quite successful. However, there are still doubts regarding whether they’ll work on the field or not.

“There’s lots of things that players do on the fields that they’re not easily replicating [in] the laboratory, but it is a significant blockage to transmission of droplets. There is no straight pathway through the face shield or visor for a droplet to be transmitted,” Crandall said.

Sadly, these helmets still haven’t prevented the players and teams from contracting the virus as we’ve seen multiple Covid-19 outbreaks around the league. This could have all been avoided with a better protocol, but at least it seems like we’ll get through the season.