Antonio Brown has been in the headlines for some wild reasons early in his first training camp with the Oakland Raiders. The star wide receiver was first held out of practice for suffering frostbite on his feet, and then there was the helmet saga.
Brown is not happy that the NFL has banned his old helmet under their new guidelines and he has even gone as far as to attempt to paint it in order to sneak it past the equipment staff while also threatening retirement.
But while the drama continues, helmet manufacture Schutt has explained why they discontinued the helmet that Brown prefers, the Schutt Air Advantage.
The wide receiver should pay close attention.
According to Schutt, the helmet is now discontinued because helmet technology has simply evolved to a level that is no longer standard. Simply put, better technology came around and they are doing their part to protect the players.
From ksat.com:
We discontinued making the helmet three years ago because current helmet technology had moved past it. The AiR Advantage was the last varsity helmet made by Schutt that featured traditional foam padding. That material, which is used by most other helmet manufacturers, does not perform as well as the TPU Cushioning we now use in all of our varsity helmets.
TPU (thermoplastic urethane) Cushioning absorbs significantly more impact across a wider variety of temperatures than any other helmet on the field. Third party testing by an independent, certified helmet testing facility has proven that, three years in a row. The AiR Advantage had lived out its useful life as a product and was discontinued when something better was developed.
Well, there you have it.
Sure, Antonio Brown may be upset that he feels the newer models hinder his vision, but there should be more of a priority on protecting his brain — something the Raiders certainly would prefer after opening up the checkbooks to pay the pass-catcher $50.125 million over three years.