Kevin Ward looks enormous here. When did players stop wearing them and why??

I'm sure there was a study somewhere which said that they could be dangerous by spreading the impact to the spine and causing injury. I always thought they were a fad, there was no need for them and usually inhibited your mobility. I think I wore a pair for half a season, they were more modern than those pictured though, they were sewn into a kind of vest.

Don't NFL players still wear them? Surely they wouldn't if they were dangerous?

I've worn the old 80s/90s style and the ones in a vest. The smaller ones were comfier and didn't restrict movement as much. I suspect they're used less as players are bigger now and feel less in need of them. There were far fewer gym bunnies in the 80s and 90s even amongst the top players.

According to some commentators NFL will be played without pads and helmets within the next 20 years. The NFL has a massive problem with ex-pros suffering from head trauma related illness including suicides brought about by depression. The helmet issue is well documented because most head injuries are caused by the brain slamming into the inside of the skull rather than something hitting the outside of the head. The helmet and pads make things worse by giving players the confidence to tackle offensively. This leads to the head 's motion being stopped suddenly whilst the brain continues to move forward. Another aspect is the issue of large bodies being thrown forward against joints. Pads encourage poor tackling technique which in turn leads to risky behaviour.

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.