Over the years, there has been increasing focus on players’ health and safety in the NFL. Today, we are diving into that; specifically talking about the evolution of technology to reduce the risk of injury and optimize performance.

We are joined today by two outstanding guests! Dr. Robin West is the Chair of the Sports Medicine service at Inova Health and team physician for the Washington Nationals. She serves on the board of director of the NFL Physician’s Society and NFL Scouting Committee. Dr. West was also Program Chair this year at the AOSSM Annual Meeting and did a phenomenal job ensuring that and educational and engaging program was delivered.

We are also joined by Dr. James Voos, Chair of Orthopedic Surgery at University Hospital in Cleveland. He is also the head team physician for the Cleveland Browns and President of the NFL Physician’s Society. Dr. Voos has published extensively on the use of wearable technology to track player’s work loads and medical stats, in an effort to keep our athletes safe. So, we are very excited to have him join Dr. West for our discussion today on the newest technology available to reduce the risk of injury and optimize performance. 

In this episode, we discuss:
The use of wearable trackers, including Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags to collect player data including position, speed and acceleration in real time.

Rule changes that have been made based on this data collected to eliminate potentially dangerous plays and reduce the risk of injury (i.e. the kick-off rule).

The process of helmet testing in the NFL. How is the NFL supporting the development of better-performing protective gear, including helmets?

The use of the “BEAST” system to biomechanically evaluate the interaction between players’ cleats and the playing field to ensure safe shoe wear. 

How does this data and advancing technology translate to improved safety for our high school and college athletes?