The chairman of the National Football League's health and safety advisory commission believes the league could ban helmets in the future.
The NFL has tried to reduce the risk of head injuries over the past five years and recently reached a nearly $1 billion legal settlement with former players suffering from head trauma.
But some experts think helmets give players a false sense of security.
"Can I see a time without helmets? Yes," Dr. John York told the BBC's Matt Slater. "It's not around the corner, but I can see it."
According to Slater's report, the idea of banning helmets has been raised before by both doctors and former players but was not taken seriously. Slater cites the NFL's rule changes aimed to prevent concussions and the retirement of players like former San Francisco 49ers Chris Borland and Anthony Davis as reasons why the idea is back on the table.
For the game to be played without helmets, York said the league would have "to do away with" the three-point stance and start each play in a more upright position.
"Such a stance enables players to launch themselves at each other headfirst, providing the trademark crunch that punctuates each play," Slater wrote.
York, a retired cancer specialist, admitted an element of danger is inherent in football, as it is in most sports. But he thinks the NFL should continue to tweak its rules, including the possibility of ditching its iconic headwear.
Bears get 'title'
Sometimes newspaper mistakes happen. They're sometimes a part of the business.
That being said, the Korea Times, an English newspaper in South Korea, might not live this mistake down for a while.
The newspaper published the headline "Chicago Bears clinch Stanley Cup" over an Associated Press story covering the Blackhawks' Game 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.
"The good news is a Chicago team did in fact win the Stanley Cup on Monday, and there is a sports team in Chicago called the Bears," CBSSports.com hockey writer Adam Gretz wrote. "But they're the football team, not a hockey team, and they haven't won a championship since 1985. So close, yet so far."
Dan Carson of Bleacher Report added, "I'd also like to thank the Korea Times for putting the image of [Bears quarterback] Jay Cutler hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup into my mind's eye. I imagine him using it as an ashtray while binge-watching Game of Thrones alone on the couch."
He said it
• Brad Dickson of the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald, after trainer Bob Baffert's wife grabbed him and said "You did it" after winning the Belmont and the Triple Crown: "Said American Pharoah: 'Uh, people, excuse me? I'm the one who just ran 1 1/2 miles with a man on my back.' "
Sports quiz
When did football players first start wearing helmets?
Answer
Leather head protection was introduced at the turn of the 20th century. Hard plastic helmets entered the game in the 1940s, with facemasks becoming commonplace in the early 1960s.
Sports on 06/19/2015