A seven-month Newsday examination into head safety in high school football on Long Island found that 885 helmets in circulation were considered “low performers” at reducing the risk of concussion, based on safety ratings published by Virginia Tech researchers.

Our effort also revealed that there were 364 reported concussions during practices or games at 104 high schools during the 2014 season.

The damaging effects of concussions has become a story of national significance. Researchers continue to learn more about the trauma suffered as a result of the repeated hits to the head that are common in the nation’s most popular sport. Experts say the football helmet is the last line of defense in preventing concussions.

We learned that researchers at Virginia Tech University had been publishing helmet safety ratings since 2011. A five-star helmet is considered the best at helping prevent a concussion. The testing has its critics due to the complexities of brain injuries, but most agree that the independently funded testing is the best rating system available. And just as safety testing changed the way the automobile industry made cars, Virginia Tech’s ratings changed the way helmets are made.

The National Football League, widely criticized for not doing enough to inform players about the risk of concussions, requires teams to make the results of the Virginia Tech testing available to players. The league also decided to conduct its own testing, the results of which are in line with that of Virginia Tech’s.

But did players, parents, coaches and administrators on Long Island know about the testing? And did they know that the helmets players were wearing may be able to help them avoid a concussion?

We set out to obtain the helmet inventories at the 116 high schools with a football program on Long Island and determine how those helmets fared in Virginia Tech’s safety testing.

Our reporting included:

• More than 200 public records requests for helmet inventories and concussion reports from the 107 public schools on Long Island with football program. We also made the same requests of the nine private schools, which are not required by law to send the information we requested.
• More than 80 interviews with neurologists, researchers, helmet manufacturers, state athletic officials, superintendents, athletic directors, coaches, players and parents.
• A trip to Virginia Tech to see the lab in which the researchers test football helmets.
• Two chilling accounts from players who suffered concussions while playing high school football.
• One school that held a vote to eliminate its football program. After voting to keep football, the school invested in helmets that have sensors that can detect the impact of a hit and help athletic trainers recognize players who may have suffered a concussion.

The impact of our reporting was substantial and immediate. We learned that many coaches and school administrators were not aware of Virginia Tech’s safety ratings. In the days leading up to the story’s publication, 23 of the 60 high schools with low-performing helmets said they would take those helmets out of circulation immediately. One high school, which initially defended its use of low-rated helmets, called to tell us it spent $38,400 on 160 new five-star helmets and would take the low-rated helmets out of circulation as soon as the new ones arrived.

Shortly after the story’s publication, we learned that one school had replaced its entire inventory of helmets after reading our report. The school’s superintendent said the district had no idea about the Virginia Tech testing and credited our story with the decision to spend almost $30,000 to buy 125 of the top-rated helmets. In the weeks that followed, the helmet safety issue became a topic of discussion at Board of Education meetings across Long Island.

We produced an engaging interactive report as well as an online database that allowed users to search by school, helmet type and safety ratings.

We also produced 8 stand alone videos. Among them, we included a tour of the Schutt helmet manufacturing plant and an interview with their CEO … They do not believe in Virginia Tech’s ratings system.

We also visited a local school that is implementing heads up tackling, which is designed to change the fundamentals of how players tackle.

And finally, we produced a mini documentary on the issues of helmets and concussion safety on Long Island.

Please take a look at our brief explainer video – https://vimeo.com/163554517 – and please take the time to scroll through our engaging interactive report and watch the 14-minute documentary.