Eagled eye Vols fan notices subtle change that Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava made after clearing concussion protocols
An eagled-eye Tennessee Vols fans noticed a subtle changed that UT quarterback Nico Iamaleava made this week after clearing the concussion protocol. Iamaleava landed in the concussion protocol after suffering a tough hit in Tennessee's win against Mississippi State. The redshirt freshman quarterback was listed as questionable for Tennessee's game against Georgia until getting cleared […]
An eagled-eye Tennessee Vols fans noticed a subtle changed that UT quarterback Nico Iamaleava made this week after clearing the concussion protocol.
Iamaleava landed in the concussion protocol after suffering a tough hit in Tennessee's win against Mississippi State.
The redshirt freshman quarterback was listed as questionable for Tennessee's game against Georgia until getting cleared on Friday.
Vols fan/uniform expert Chad Fields noticed on Saturday that Iamaleava switched helmets for the Georgia game.
Fields pointed out that Iamaleava switched from the Riddell Speedflex, which the California native wore in Tennessee's first nine games of the season, to the VICIS 02, which is widely believed to be safer when it comes to head injuries.
The Athletic profiled VICIS last year, noting that the NFL and the NFLPA determined that the company has the "five highest-performing helmets when it comes to reducing the severity of head impacts".
From The Athletic: According to laboratory tests conducted by the NFL and NFLPA in 2023, VICIS has the five highest-performing helmets when it comes to reducing the severity of head impacts.
“I believe that we changed the whole industry,” Reinhall said in a phone interview earlier this month. “I think we made a big impact, so to speak — excuse the pun — to the industry and made it safer.”
The most unique feature of VICIS’ soft-shell helmets is the “local deformation,” which means that the area where impact occurs actually absorbs hits. With traditional hard-shell helmets, the entire helmet structure moves when there’s a collision.
“The way that it’s been typically described to people is the difference between a bumper on a typical car built today versus a 1980 (Ford) Bronco that was a huge piece of steel,” VICIS vice president of product development Jason Neubauer said. “Nowadays, unfortunately, if you get in a fender bender, a lot of times your whole front end is maybe destroyed. But on the other hand, that means that the whole front end gave way and absorbed the impact — so you didn’t have to.”
Iamaleava said he felt "great" against Georgia after his status for the game was up in the air for much of the week.
