Ex-NFL linebacker Dhani Jones makes case for ditching hard-shell helmets

The idea of doing away with helmets may seem counter-productive given the NFL's concussion crisis, but former linebacker Dhani Jones thinks the league would be wise to do so. 

Jones, who played for the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals over the course of his 10-year career, made his case in an op-ed written for the Washington Post:

Football players are taught to block with "hat and hands" technique. You make contact with your head and your hands simultaneously, then shed your opponent to the left or right. As an NFL linebacker, I hit my head roughly 100 times per game, often facing up with guards, then a fullback and then a tailback all on a single play. I thrive on that intensity and physicality. But as studies have shown, it's because of the high-impact nature of the sport that concussions have done so much damage to so many players.

Efforts to develop high-tech helmets, ban high-risk tackles and impose astronomical fines have done little to dial down the hits. It's unclear that any helmet technology could prevent concussions. And even a five-figure fine can't stop a helmet-to-helmet collision when a quarterback drops his head slightly and a defensive player has only a fraction of a second to change his point of target.

Jones suggested replacing hard-shell helmets with throwback leather ones, which everyone knows provide limited protection. 

"But we need to eliminate the idea that I'm in a cage, you're in a cage, and we can go at each other because we're indestructible," Jones writes.

Jones used rugby as an example of a physical sport that doesn't use helmets:

Yes, removing plastic helmets would change how the game is played. But I don't buy that it would take the toughness out of football. Rugby players don't wear helmets, and having played with the English club Blackheath as part of my Travel Channel show, I can vouch that rugby is a tough and bloody sport. I came away from one practice with a black eye and more lactic acid buildup than I ever had in an NFL game.

It's an interesting idea, but one that would likely require a lot of convincing before being implemented. 

- With h/t to NJ.com