Schutt and Tim Brown Announce HotHeads Heat Technology System at NATA

Jun 18, 2009

San Antonio, TX (June 18, 2009) – Tim Brown’s Oakland Raiders had tied their game with the Miami Dolphins and were headed into overtime. Brown, the Raider captain and star wide receiver, had left the game, suffering from heat exhaustion, only to return in time to make his way to mid-field for the OT coin toss. “I felt so bad walking out for the coin toss to see who would get the ball, I was hoping they won the toss to give me more time to recoup,” Brown recalled.

The heat had so sapped Brown that when the game was over doctors pumped three bags of fluid into his veins. “They said it was the most they had ever given a player my size,” Brown said. 

How hot was Brown during that mid-1990s game? To what temperature did his body rise? No one, not even Brown, has any clue. 

According to USA Football, more than 21 million Americans - from pee wee to the NFL - will play football this year. Overheating, especially among programs in the South, is an area of long-time concern for coaches, parents, certified athletic trainers and administration. Heat-related injuries have caused the deaths of 25 athletes since 2000. Until now, team officials have never been able to accurately monitor the true temperature of an athlete on the field. 

Brown, who will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this year, was in San Antonio for the National Athletic Trainers Association convention today to share details of one of the greatest breakthroughs in player protection to come to football in years. 

Schutt and HotHead Technologies have developed the first-ever helmet fitted with a temperature sensing device that can identify athletes who are overheating before they require three bags of fluid - and before the heat does irreparable damage to their bodies. A dime-sized sensor in the forehead pad of the helmet relays accurate body temperature readings of every player on the field to a personal digital assistant (PDA) on the sidelines that is monitored by a certified athletic trainer.

The H.O.T. System™ will act as an early warning detection system for heat stroke and other heat-related injuries, giving certified athletic trainers, coaches and doctors a distinct advantage in their battle with heat. 

“I never could have imagined my helmet could have let me and the trainers know I was overheating,” Brown said. “I believe this product will be life-saving.  Here in Texas, we hear of players suffering from heat strokes or heat-related injuries all summer. This product will give the player confidence to know they can push themselves knowing their body temperature is being monitored.  This is great for athletes because pushing ourselves to no end is what sports is all about in our minds.  Now we have a product to stop us before we get to the ‘no end’ stage.”