There’s a long history of athletes’ reluctance to adopt new equipment. Here's a timeline highlighting the major shift in sports injury prevention methods in professional sports over the years. Full article titled 'Concussions are Shaping the Future of Professional Sports' can be read on DonBasile.me

1. New York Giants’ catcher
Roger Bresnahan wearing shin
guards becomes the 1st MLB
catcher to wear protective
gear in open view
1878
First baseball catcher’s mask
is patented
1940
Chicago Bears’ Dick Plasman
becomes last NFL player to play
in a game without a helmet
1955Popularized by legendary
Cleveland Browns quarterback
Otto Graham, the “single bar”
helmet is worn in the NFL.
1943
NFL mandates that all players
wear helmets
1800s
A Timeline of Injury
Prevention in Pro Sports
1907
1939
John T. Riddell Company
introduces a plastic football
helmet that is more durable
than leather models
1956
MLB “grandfathers in” helmets
i.e. new players entering the
league must wear helmets
1962
The NFL requires that players
wear helmets with face masks
1968NHL player Bill Masterton, a
center for the Minnesota
North Stars, hits his head on
the ice in a game versus the
Oakland Seals, causing a
fatal brain aneurysm
1971
MLB requires all players to
wear helmets while batting
and running the bases.
Catchers must wear them in
the field
1979NHL makes helmets
mandatory for new players
entering the league; veterans
have the choice of whether or
not to wear one
1983
All MLB players entering the
league must wear a helmet
with an ear flap 1991
The first serious attempt (failed
after cyclists threaten to
boycott the race by the UCI to
introduce compulsory helmet
use during the Tour de France
1997
The last NHLer to play without
a helmet, Craig MacTavish,
goes into retirement
2002
Riddell releases the Revolution
(or Revo) Helmet, which most
NFL players begin wearing
2009
Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster
becomes the first MLB player
to wear Rawlings’ new S100
helmet, which offers better
protection than the company’s
standard helmets
Turning point in cycling’s
helmet policy due to the death
of Kazakh Andrei Kivilev.
Bikers are still allowed to
discard their helmets during
final climbs that are at least 5
kilometers in length
2003
2000s
1900s
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