A strength coach who’s been called a “renegade researcher” says he’s made a machine that can cut way back on concussions.
talk about the best chances of do whatever they can to keep their players safe on the field. wdbj7 New River Valley reporter Orlando Salinas joins us live from Blacksburg tonight with a story about a strength coach who’s been called a “renegad researcher” a couple years back i met this guy who looks like the hulk. Turns out he’s a Virginia Tech grad and he’s worked as a strength coach for the Washington Redskins. He tells me he’s made a machine that can cut way back on concussions. Ralph Cornwell is ripping open his first “head an neck isolator” machine that’s just been delivered in Blacksburg. It’s taken years to get this machine to market. Cornwell says athletes can have the best helmets possible, but that’s not enough. [Dr. Ralph Cornwell, independent researcher) “i mean you do hav a really good helmet and Tech does make a very good helmet but the brain is still moving inside the helmet.” Cornwell has teamed up with physicists, strength coaches and nfl trainers who say working the head and neck muscles are maybe more important than any other. Just a few days ago, the strength coach at Florida State University, bought one of Cornwell’s machines. (phone interview with Mike Bradley, Florida State University Strength Coach) “There’s a enormous amount of value in the machine. It’s critically important to be able to train your neck even in a sport like basketball. We get our share of head and neck injuries and concusssions.” Cornwell said he’s reached out to the Virginia Tech football team and offered to supply his machines for free, but was turned down. a handful of college programs have invested in his invention. Cornwell says the head and neck machine trains athletes to work several muscles in the head and neck area that are often overlooked. One high school football coach in Minnesota just bought six of Cornwell’s machines. (Dave Nelson, Minnetonka High School Football Coach) “i don’t know wha the percentage is of high school programs or college programs across the country that focus on strength and neck. i don’t know in college programs which one’s do, but it is a priority and those muscles can be strengthened.” Cornwell said he reached out to Blackburg High School’s new athletic director and offered to supply the machines and train student athletes for free, but was told “no thanks. “Every school tha we’ve been involved with changed. It’s a paradym shift. The head and neck is the most important thing because it doesn’t matter how fast you can fun, how much you can bench press, how much you can squat.” Cornwell says in a few weeks, he’s off for football country in Montana where other schools have purchased his head and neck machine. He also said his offer to supply vt with these machines, still stands. Live in Blacksburg Orlando Salinas, wdbj7.
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