AP Photo/Steven Senne
Tom Brady.
- Tom Brady is not thrilled to be forced into a new helmet.
- Speaking with "The Greg Hill Show" on sports radio WEEI, Brady said he doesn't love his new helmet, and that he is "trying to do the best I can to work with it."
- Brady is not the only veteran complaining about the new rule, with Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown and Cowboys tight end Jason Witten also expressing their frustrations.
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Antonio Brown is not the only NFL player dealing with the frustrations of a new helmet.
Speaking with "The Greg Hill Show" on sports radio WEEI, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady discussed his difficulties with changing his equipment.
While Brady did not go as far as Brown and his threat to retire should he not be allowed to wear his old helmet, the six-time Super Bowl champion expressed frustration with his search for a new helmet.
"I've been experimenting with a couple different ones, and I don't really love the one that I'm in, but I don't really have much of a choice," Brady said. "So I'm just trying to do the best I can to work with it."
Brady also discussed the attachment he had to his old helmet, which he had worn for many of the biggest games of his career.
"You get used to the same helmet for a long period of time. My last helmet, I wore it the last four Super Bowls, so it was a pretty great helmet for me. I hated to put it on the shelf," he said. "It's kind of what I'm dealing with."
Players this season are being forced to switch helmets due to NFL rules, which now prohibit some models. In addition, any older than 10 years cannot be certified by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, as NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy explained on Twitter.
Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, who came out of retirement this year after spending the 2018 NFL season in ESPN's "Monday Night Football" broadcast booth, is also dealing with the adjustment that comes with a new helmet.
"It's been a long time coming, so I knew like anybody, the rules are the rules so you've got to evolve with them," Witten said, per ESPN. "There's a lot of things you'd like to change, but at the same time you've got to evolve. It's been a pretty easy transition. As much as I loved that helmet, I knew some things were out of my control and that was one of them."
Brady and the other NFL veterans being forced to change helmets may not be happy with the switch, but with three preseason games left to work out any kinks with their new equipment, they should be fine when it comes time to suit up for Week 1.
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The player can't practice or play in games with equipment that's not approved. If he doesn't play or practice he is in breach of his contract and doesn't get paid. Nfl policy is that Helmets have to be certified by NOSCAE. They don't certify equipment that's old than 10 years.
- Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) August 12, 2019