Professor Nikolaus Graventstein, MD " Temperature BioPhysics and Football Pads," Explore Fall 2005, Volume 10, Number 3, Rearch at The University of Florida.
Presentation to NFL Equipment Managers Meeting, March 7, 2005, Disney's Boardwalk Resort, Orlando, FL (FlashPaper format)
Simulation presented at NFL Equipment Managers conference, March 7, 2005, Orlando, FL, (Shockwave format - requires free Macromedia Shoclwave player)
Presentation to NFL, New York City, NY, November 2, 2004 (FlashPaper format)
Transparent reality simulation of cooling in football pads presented at NFL headquarters, 11/2/04, NY City
National Public Radio's Health in a Heartbeat piece on air-conditioned football pad (no longer available).
Links with Background Information
3/16/2004 USA Today article
on understanding humidity
8/4/2004 USA Today article
on cooling effect of sweat
3/17/2005 USA Today article
on danger of hot weather
4/21/2005 USA Today article
on danger of heat and humidity
Preliminary In-Vitro Experimental Data
Preliminary
data using a water bottle containing 54 lbs of warm water (105 degrees
F, 40.5 degrees C) to simulate the upper human torso indicate that air-cooled
football pads may provide added cooling to football players compared
to traditional football pads.
Additional testing performed with a T-shirt interposed between the bottle and the football pads indicate that the highest rate of cooling occurs with a wet T-shirt and cooled air flowing through the football pads.
The air-cooled football pads are commercially available as the Temperature Management System (TMS) from Williams Sports Group, a licensee of the University of Florida.
