Most other players who’ve added extra facial protection to their helmets have worn the basic (and rather boring-looking) plastic attachments we’re now used to seeing. A partial list of such players includes Marlon Byrd, Mike Devereaux, Chase Headley, Jason Heyward, David Justice, Terrence Long, Kevin Seitzer and Terry Steinbach, among many others.MLB Face Masks

The NFL initial changed the rules after Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey took a COVID-19 test, played against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday and then on Monday got a positive test result back. There were six Ravens players that were considered high-risk due to their close contact with Humphrey and now they’re forced to quarantine for five days. Couple that news with the latest from the 49ers, and its evident why the NFL is enforcing these new face mask rules.Oakland Athletics Face Masks

MLB Umpire Injured by Foul Ball Awarded $775K in Suit Against Sporting Goods Company
A District of Columbia Superior Court jury has ordered the Wilson Sporting Goods Co. to pay $775,000 to a Major League Baseball umpire injured by a foul ball that knocked off his Wilson-made face mask.

Ed Hickox, who has since resumed his duties as an MLB umpire, suffered a concussion and several broken bones after a foul ball struck him in the jaw while he was umpiring a Washington Nationals’ game at RFK Stadium on May 14, 2005. The protective face mask Hickox was wearing at the time – manufactured by Wilson and given to Hickox for free by a Wilson representative – flipped off of his head upon impact.

Hickox sued Wilson, claiming the company was responsible not only because the mask failed to protect his face as advertised, but also because the company failed to tell Hickox that the company had not tested the mask with the same rigor they used to test hockey face masks.

“An ordinary customer would expect the umpire’s mask, built to protect the umpire’s face from stray baseballs, not to harm Plaintiff when a baseball strikes the mask,” Hickox wrote in his complaint.

Hickox was represented by Patrick Regan and Paul Cornoni of Washington’s Regan Zambri & Long. Regan, in a telephone interview today, said he was not surprised the jury ruled on Friday in Hickox’s favor, since Wilson maintained that using field testing – that is, seeing how the mask held up while it was worn by umpires and catchers – was sufficient testing.

“They were using the umpires and catchers as human guinea pigs,” Regan said.

Timothy Fizer of Krause, Fizer, Crogan & Lopez in Owings Mills, Md., represented the company. He said an appeal is likely.

The verdict was “obviously disappointing,” Fizer said in a phone interview today. “Our position was that the mask was not defective.”

Regan said he did not know how many of the face masks in question were given for free to MLB umpires and catchers or sold to the public. He did say that Wilson did do more testing on the mask following the 2005 incident, but did not reveal the results of the test or what, if any, changes were made to the mask’s design.New York Yankees Face Masks

The NFL is making changes to its coronavirus protocol. The league sent out a memo on Tuesday that stated that teams’ sideline bench areas — where face masks must be worn — will now extend from one 20-yard line to the other rather than the 30-yard line to the other 30. In addition, the NFL will also require players to wear face masks during any postgame interactions, such as interviews or speaking with other players.

Material
Facemasks for football helmets are made from three materials: carbon steel, stainless steel, or titanium. Carbon steel is the heaviest of the materials and generally costs the least. Titanium, on the other hand, is lightweight, extremely durable, and far and away from the most expensive. Stainless steel falls in the middle, being of average weight and moderately priced. All three rank high in terms of durability. The determining choices for most tend to be the weight of the mask and its cost.