In 1894, in a game against another Deaf team, Gallaudet’s quarterback —Paul Hubbard — didn’t want to risk the opponent seeing his signs to his teammates, so he invented the huddle on the spot. This idea took off and you see it on football fields all over America.

Now Gallaudet has trialed something that may change the game again. On October 7, in Gallaudet’s game against Hilbert College, Gallaudet’s quarterback wore a new helmet featuring innovative technology that the school’s been working on with AT&T for the past two years.

They added a small battery-run display to the helmet above the player’s right eye. The coach uses a partner app to send the plays to the helmet from the sideline and it shows up in that display. (See helmet and app in above picture.)

Helmet Technology's Impact On the Game

Warren Keller, Gallaudet’s Athletic Director, said the whole experience using the new tech was unbelievable and so much smoother than games without the display: players had fewer penalties, were able to make more audibles and burned less of their timeouts due to communication issues.

Keller pointed out that the play showed up on the helmet immediately after entering it on the iPad. By comparison, he says an all-Deaf team using a regular helmet typically experiences delay-of-game penalties, late hit penalties, and uses up timeouts to respond to audibles.

“We experienced from the very beginning that there was rain so we could not push the buttons on the iPad. We quickly wiped this off and will be using pushing pencils next time. There are always situations during the game that comes up that you have not practiced for but we adapted very well and won the game!”

He says the helmets are ready for regulation use, but Gallaudet and AT&T are continuing to push for advancements on it. For example, they can view text right now but the possibilities are endless. Could players view sign language, play diagrams, etc? He thinks that is possible down the road.

Potential Use Beyond Gallaudet

The NCAA only gave permission to use the helmet in one game as a trial so far, which is normal according to Mr. Keller. He said the helmet has already passed the NOCSE safety test and there is a proposal on the table to add it to the rule book allowing use in any games next season. “The NCAA and our members are very devoted to safety, accessibility, and to push the playing level even further. And because of that, I have no concerns that this proposal will pass.”

Keller sees the potential for broad impacts on football for Deaf and hearing teams alike. “How often have you seen a game at television where it is a road game in a two minute drill kind of situation? It is very LOUD! How often have you seen some of the most elite NFL quarterbacks not understand the audio play call, burn timeouts, make a bad decision, or take a delay of game penalty? This happens all the time every week. This is another example of DEAF GAIN where Deaf people helps make the world a better place.”

 To see more news about this groundbreaking technology, visit Gallaudet’s webpage.