CHANDLER, Ariz. — When you think about it, football is like science. It’s all about uncovering the unknown, figuring out ways to plow through defenses.
“Just like science. You got to be smart. You got to think ahead,” said J.T. Mulvihill, who is a freshman at Arizona College Prep East in Chandler.
Mulvihill has found a way to combine his two passions: football and science.
He’s creating a helmet using different elastic gel polymers to cushion the big hits. On the inside of the helmet is a thick green gel. On the outside is a beige gel attached to the shell covering.
Science is all about trial and error. In a test at Virginia Tech University, his helmet did really well absorbing the big hits, but it’s heavy.
“Because of how heavy it is, it can cause more impact to the head. On the outside material, because it is very friction. There’s a lot of friction and it can cause something called reactive acceleration. Which can cause a lot of neck injuries,” said Mulvihill.
This helmet is more than a science experiment to Mulvihill – it’s personal.
“I have a very serious retinal detachment and I’m not allowed to play football because of the risk.” “I just want to be able to one day play or make the game safer. So, people like me can play.”
The helmet has landed Mulvihill a spot in a national science competition, the 2020 Broadcom MASTERS Finalists, where he’ll compete for more than $100,000 in prizes.
