NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement

Article 39
Players’ Rights To Medical Care and Treatment

Section 12
Joint Engineering and Equipment Safety Committee

The NFL and NFLPA shall establish a Joint Engineering and Equipment Safety Committee to provide advice and guidance regarding the safety and performance of playing equipment used by NFL players. The Committee shall consist of the NFL Chief Medical Officer, the NFLPA Medical Director, and two (2) appointees designated by each of the NFL Chief Medical Officer and the NFLPA Medical Director, who shall be knowledgeable and experienced in engineering and other fields relevant to the safety of playing equipment used by professional football players. Each member of the Committee shall have one vote. The Committee is charged with the following responsibilities; (i) develop and implement testing protocols to evaluate and test playing equipment used by NFL players; (ii) develop standards and metrics that NFL players’ equipment must meet in order to be used by any NFL player during an NFL game or practice; and (iii) such other duties as the Parties may assign. Should the Joint Engineering and Equipment Safety Committee determine that any playing equipment does not meet the standards and metrics developed by the Committee, the Committee shall have the authority to prohibit the use of any such equipment by NFL players. The Committee’s determinations concerning whether any particular equipment will not be permitted to be used in NFL games and practices shall be binding. Research conducted by the Joint Engineering and Equipment Safety Committee shall be funded by the Joint Contribution Amount as set forth in Article 12, Section 5 of this Agreement. For purposes of clarity, the Parties shall have joint control over such funding.