Football players are required to wear helmets 

All football players are required to wear mouth protectors and  helmet with a secured chin strap. All football players must have a helmet with a four-point chin strap fastened to in play.

Striking a runner with the top of your helmet counts as a foul

The NCAA adopts the Injury Surveillance system to provide data on injury trends in collegiate sports. A committee is tasked with recommending changes in rules, equipment, and coaching techniques to help reduce injury rates. 

The NCAA’s assistant director of sport scientists, Randall Dick, publishes an article that finds that “concussions accounts for at least 60 percent of head injuries in each of the sports monitored.” The NCAA adopts guidelines outlining protocols for returning to play after a concussion.

NCAA funds a concussion study with researchers Kevin Guskiewicz, director of North Carolinas Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Centre, and Michael McCrea, director of brain injury research at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Steelers Hall of Famer Mike Webster dies. Dr. Bennet Omalu examines his brian discovering damage that sustains due to repeated football collisions. This gets named Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

 AFL Doctors Association introduced Inaugural AFL Concussion Management guidelines.

NFL holds its first concussions summit.

The horse-collar tackle becomes illegal by the NCAA, they also revamp illegal contact of an opponent and simplifies the cop-block rule. Emphasis is put on removing hits on defenceless players and blows to the head. 

Specific guidelines to address the risk of head-high contact from dangerous tackles introduced in AFL.


legislation requiring all members to have a concussion management plan is implemented by the NCAA division Board of Directors and Presidents Council. 

The kick-off location was moved to the 35-yard line rather then the 30-yard line to encourage more touchbacks and limited kicking team players to be no more then 5 yards behind the kick-off line. Not only this, the touchback spot on free kicks was moved to the 25-yard line to encourage touchbacks. 

The NFL announces safety measures such as the placement of a neurologist on the sideline of every game.

 The NCAA and Department of Defense launches a three year, $30 million longitudinal concussion study, oversen by the CARE Consortium, and an educational challenge, announced at the White House Healthy Kids and Safe Sport Concussion Summit.

An app is released called head check to assist concussion management for youth players of AFL.

 Medical substitutes introduced for AFL where players medically unfit to continue can be replaced from an additional interchange player.

The AFL released its Strategic Plan for sport related concussion management in Australian Football for the current period through to 2026. An industry Concussion Steering Group will continue after 12 months of being established as part of the AFL’s commitment to best-practice governance structure.