NFL unveils Oakley Mouth Shield to fight coronaviruses

In the name of health and safety, NFL players could sport a whole new look in 2020.

The Oakley Mouth Shield – a product designed by doctors and engineers from the NFL and the NFL Players Association to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus on the playing field – is expected to be distributed to 32 teams over the next week, when it will receive a test drive on a much larger scale than that obtained to date.

Safety protocol negotiations are underway between the league and the players. Currently, there is no warrant for wearing a face shield, but NFL medical experts advocate the use of protective equipment.

“This is certainly what we are going to encourage,” said Dr. Allen Sills, chief medical officer of the NFL. “And we hope we’re going to land on a product design that everyone would want to wear, because they’ll see the value and want that extra protection without sacrificing performance.”

The Oakley Prizm lens technology used by skiers, military personnel and, more recently, NFL players to improve the color and contrast of their visors is presented in the new design. The plastic sheets extend downward and attach to the face shield. According to the chairman of the NFL engineering committee, Dr. Jeff Crandall, there are airways and openings on the mouth mask, but none allow the direct transmission of droplets.

The mouth shield has already been distributed to the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers – two teams near the Oakley base – by NFLPA medical director Dr. Thom Mayer, and has also been sent to various representatives players and equipment managers for feedback. .

According to Mayer, the two main concerns to date have been visibility and breathability.

“We only had it on a few players – we have 2,500 players in the league – but I was surprised that … claustrophobia has not been an issue yet,” he said. “I think it will be when we [have more players testing them]. “

Houston Texans defensive lineman JJ Watt is strongly opposed to wearing a face shield.

“My second year in the league, I thought it would be cool, I put a visor on my helmet,” Watt told ProFootballTalk. “I was like,” It looks so cool, I want to put on a visor. “I wore it for about three periods of practice and said,” Take off that sucker – I’m going to die here. … So now you’re going to put something around my mouth? You can keep that. If it comes in, I don’t think you’re going to see me on the field. “

The current design, however, is the result of an iterative process based largely on player feedback, with comfort and functionality in mind as well as protection. Quarters who have tested them recently have been able to effectively call plays, said Mayer, following initial responses that the sound was too muffled. The field of vision has also been widely taken into account.

Crandall said that Oakley performed internal tests in which it sprayed fluid particles to represent droplets expelled by players and found a high success rate of blocked transmission.

“I don’t know if there is a direct percentage that anyone finds, because a laboratory is not the environment on the ground, of course,” said Crandall. “There are a lot of things that players do on the pitch that they don’t easily reproduce [in] the laboratory, but it is a major barrier to the transmission of droplets. There is no straight path through the face shield or visor for a droplet to be transmitted. “

While Oakley is the official supplier of the NFL, there are other manufacturers of face masks, and players could end up using other brands as well in 2020, according to the director of revenue and executive vice president of partnership with the NFL, Renie Anderson.

Mayer called football “probably the perfect environment or the petri dish in which to spread the virus”, since it is a contact sport involving a large number of players. The NFL and NFLPA hope that the various security measures they take, including the introduction of the Mouth Shield, will lead to a safer environment.

“As with everything we do, whether it’s better cleats or better helmets, it’s something safer and protects and in many cases improves performance,” said Sills . “It’s the same mantra and the same type of approach that we’re taking here. I’m really happy with the way the work is going. We haven’t come up with a finished product yet. Like most things safety, there really is no finish line here. So we hope to keep innovating and improving as we go along. But we can’t wait to see where we are and we’re excited about the potential role that this can play a role in mitigating risks on the ground. “