Former 49ers DT Arik Armstead on injury risk in NFL: ‘I think you can mitigate it'
· Yahoo Sports
Arik Armstead recalled playing on special teams for the San Francisco 49ers as a rookie in 2015. He held one teammate's hand on the "wedge," as 11 opposing players raced toward them at full speed from 50 yards away - a much different dynamic than the kickoffs on tap in Sunday's Super Bowl.
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Armstead stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 290 pounds, an imposing figure even in the distorted world of the NFL, but he practically shuddered at the memory. He was hardly heartbroken to end the special-teams assignment in his second season, and play exclusively on the defensive line.
"Those special-teams guys are crazy," he said, half-smiling.
Armstead, 32, now plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was back in the Bay Area for Friday's Super Bowl LX Innovation Summit, held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in advance of the Seahawks-Patriots clash on Sunday in Santa Clara.
The summit brought out a wide range of notable people from the sports, technology and political worlds. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie participated on one panel alongside Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made an appearance, as did 49ers owner Jed York.
One panel on "The Future of Player Protection" included Armstead, who spent nine seasons with the 49ers before they released him in a cost-cutting move in March 2024. Armstead sat alongside executives from Amazon Web Services (Julie Souza) and Nike (Eric Taylor), fielding questions from Jeff Miller of the NFL.
Among the issues they addressed was the league's kickoff rules changes the past two years, with players aligned five yards apart to reduce high-speed collisions. Souza shared data suggesting the previous format for kickoffs carried a concussion rate four times that of a regular pass or run play from scrimmage.
That rate has since dropped, even if some football traditionalists struggle to accept the new-look kickoffs. "It took a little time, but it's still exciting and the injury rate went down for that play," Armstead said.
Asked after the panel session how much the NFL can really reduce risk in such a violent sport, he told the Chronicle, "I think you can mitigate it. You have to rely on data and also how players feel. It can't be all data-driven.
"Players have to feel safe, feel what the data is saying, and believe in it. I think data can help with some misconceptions, but there's also the reality sometimes of how players feel - like playing on turf and different things."
The NFL promoted a new initiative Friday, focused on improving facemasks. The league described it in a news release as "a crowdsourced innovation competition designed to accelerate the development of cutting-edge football helmets and new standards for player safety."
Nowhere did the league mention its owners' desire to extend the regular season to 18 games, which would seem at odds with player health and safety.
At any rate, Armstead seemed intrigued about efforts to improve facemask technology. He acknowledged he never thought he'd wear the protective "guardian" helmet, but he and his teammates all do so in practice. (Armstead doesn't wear it in games.)
"That's the next place to go, right?" he said of potential facemask advances. "That's a big piece of the helmet - it's not just the crown."
Taylor, the Nike exec, said market research shows kids who play football mostly want equipment that "feels cool and fast." So whether it's helmets, facemasks or cleats, any attempt to better protect young players also must address their interests.
Or, as Taylor put it, "You have to deliver safety to them in a way they want to receive it."
Another panel Friday covered "The Power and Equity of Women's Sports." One of the speakers - Phoebe Schecter, an NFL analyst for Sky Sports and global flag football ambassador - spoke about the unmistakable momentum for girls' flag football.
That has been evident throughout Super Bowl week, with the NFL finally throwing its clout behind the flag game. And it will become even more evident in 2028, when flag football makes its Olympic debut in Los Angeles.
Schecter noted the "confidence and empowerment" girls get from playing the sport.
The panel featuring Lurie and Ohanian explored the future of live sporting events, a timely topic with the country's biggest one looming Sunday. Lurie clearly savored the impact of national commentators speaking positively this week about San Francisco, and its belated bounce-back from the pandemic.
"We as a city needed this," he said of the Super Bowl.
Ohanian, also known in part as the husband of tennis icon Serena Williams, suggested the pandemic reminded people about the value of communal events such as live sports. He expects the value to only rise in the future.
"I feel like live sports will be the last thing standing," Ohanian said. "It's anti-AI. We're never going to pay to see a bunch of robots hitting each other on a football field."
This article originally published at Former 49ers DT Arik Armstead on injury risk in NFL: ‘I think you can mitigate it'.