Steelers Update.

Now, concern turns to football helmet


Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger likely will take the field this season wearing a helmet he passed on last year, according to the Steelers' primary helmet supplier.

Roethlisberger also may need a hard chin cup, a different face mask and the addition of a face shield that extends to at least below the nose to keep wayward fingers from his fractured face, jaws and nose, said Marty Cothern, Riddell key account manager. Riddell is the country's leading manufacturer of football helmets. Steelers trainers contacted him about helmet possibilities after the quarterback's Monday motorcycle accident, in which Roethlisberger also suffered a minor concussion.

"They're trying to think ahead of the curve here, and they don't know -- nobody knows -- what the issues are going to be," he said. "... At that position, it's tough to wear too much, because you have to turn your head a lot."

Big Ben likely will wear the Revolution helmet, (above left) which has distinctive muttonchop-like protection over the jaws and was first introduced five years ago, Cothern said.

The helmet was designed to protect players from concussions but also provides the best jaw protection available on a football helmet, he said.
The Revolution was made after a study came to the surprising conclusion that 70 percent of players' concussions occurred from blows to the jaw or side of the head, Cothern said.

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