NFL helmets and Rugby scrum caps are certainly dangerous, they result in more neck injuries and don’t offer any protection to the brain. They give people a false sense of security to run in head first.

Anybody running into anything head first whilst wearing just a RL skull cap probably deserves their impending brain and spinal injuries.

same her, early mid 90'2 had an all singing legion of doom type set, kept dropping the ball as it restricted movement so much. And most impact injuries i got where on the lower arm (dead arms stingers etc) from tackling anyway, so ditched them and felt ten times better. never ever used them again and played up to to 2006-07 in National conference league. Back in the 90's was more head hunters and roper housing than anything else anyway, which pads don't protect you from.

Maybe they were more of a fashion thing, or was it just coincidence that they seemed to arrive and disappear in sync with Dallas.

I heard an interview with a player (I forget who) some time ago who said they were ditched because someone realised they actually offered very little in the way of protection, and all they did was soften the impact in the tackle.

Makes sense. RL players' shoulders are hard as bricks. Taking that in the ribs does a lot more to wear the opposition down than padding.

There were points in the late 80s /early 90s where some players spent the entire game adjusting huge baggy jerseys and awkwardly chunky shoulder padding.

Now they just wear those GPS crop tops.