The Broncos’ helmet donation program has hit a snag.
All In, All Covered, an initiative the Broncos announced last week, plans to donate 15,516 new Riddell Axiom helmets across each high school program in Colorado over four years.
But the single largest philanthropic investment in team history is encountering pushback from school districts across the state, with at least 10 districts halting involvement in the program due to concerns over the smart helmets’ data.
“We are in a holding pattern and pausing at this point,” Cherry Creek School District athletic director Larry Bull told The Denver Post. “We are waiting for some more information regarding the data collection and use of. Once we have the information, we will meet with our legal department, risk management, data group and our health services to determine next steps.”
Denver Public Schools, Jeffco Public Schools, Douglas County School District, Pueblo County School District 70, Adams 14 School District, St. Vrain Valley School District, School District 49, Colorado Springs School District 11 and Rocky Ford School District are among the districts that have also paused their involvement.
Potential liability and student privacy are driving the districts’ concerns. Administrators fear that if a player suffers a concussion, the helmet data could open up the coach, school and district to legal action.
“I do have some concerns that this data can be used against coaches and programs,” Rocky Ford athletic director Sean McNames said. “I think there is always concerns when someone else is going to be collecting and analyzing data. … Right now I feel stuck in limbo without enough information to move forward.”
According to the program playbook sent by the Broncos to high school coaches, “Riddell owns the data (from the helmets) and uses the deidentified information for product development, support and enhancements.”
The playbook says that the majority of head scans, which are done by Riddell reps in person, should be completed by March 1 in order for schools to receive the custom-fit helmets in time for the 2025 season.
The Post has contacted more than two dozen school districts across the state, none of which have confirmed participation in the program. As of Wednesday, several of the state’s largest districts have instructed ADs and coaches to not opt in.
“… Until we have gained all the adequate approvals NO school should have Riddell on campus conducting 3D imaging/sizing of your students,” Jeffco administration wrote in an email sent to schools this week. “Additionally, no AD or Coach should sign an agreement with Riddell or the Broncos until we have an opportunity to vet as a district.”
District 11 athletic director Chris Noll was among several administrators contacted by The Post who said they remained excited about the program despite initial concerns. But he also cited issues for high school teams with transient rosters.
“We’re going to be measuring a whole bunch of heads (via 3-D scans), but are all those kids going to be around on the team on Aug. 1?” Knoll said.
The Denver Broncos Foundation anticipated questions would arise during the rollout and gave itself a buffer to address concerns and still have helmets to teams by the start of the 2025 season.
The Broncos have 11 events planned this month, including Zoom calls and six in-person educational training sessions and demonstrations across the state.
Districts that initially opt out of the program retain the option to participate in future years. For those that opt out entirely, the Broncos will reallocate their portion of donated helmets to other schools.
The first explanatory Zoom call for coaches and athletic directors was Tuesday afternoon.
“A primary goal of the program is to provide resources to schools so they can make informed decisions on behalf of their student-athletes, including whether to anonymize their roster information,” Denver Broncos Foundation executive director Allie Engelken said in a statement to The Post. “The Denver Broncos Foundation, CHSAA and Riddell look forward to continuing to engage in conversations, update resources and transparently share information about the program for those schools interested in enrolling.”
According to Riddell, teams can anonymize rosters through InSite Analytics by assigning each player a serial number. Riddell, which has used InSite Analytics in Axiom helmets since 2022, had 1,415 teams subscribe to the service in 2024. Over 1,100 of them are high school teams.
A four-year subscription to InSite Analytics comes as part of the Broncos’ donation, but teams are not required to use it in order to receive helmets. Teams are, however, required to utilize the InSite Smart Helmet Technology all four years. That technology transmits data directly to Riddell.
That data can be anonymous, as Engelken pointed out, but the school would still need to know what helmet corresponds to what player. That concerns districts wary of how the data could be utilized in the case of a lawsuit, and the possibility of a plaintiff subpoenaing that data as part of their case.
Riddell emphasized that “each high school will determine who on their football staff will receive the InSite Analytics reports — (and) Riddell does not share any information beyond each team’s requested receiver.”
Mullen head coach Jeremy Bennett, whose team used 15 Axioms at the varsity level last year along with the InSite Analytics reporting, said he understands the red tape that comes with getting a program like All In, All Covered approved in a public school district versus a single private school like his.
But he also believes that “we have to embrace this technology,” and says Mullen has been fine with how the data is used and stored by Riddell. Bennett said he sees “the benefit of this technology outweighing any of those (negative) scenarios.”
“This technology is going to make kids safer,” Bennett said. “Can it be weaponized (in the case of an injury)? I don’t know, I think that’s a stretch. But it can be used as evidence if you’re repeatedly letting a kid get away with (poor technique or taking lots of head blows) and you’re not correcting it, because the data is not going to lie.
“The flip side of it is this: Let’s say I’m offered this helmet, and as a district you deny them. Then a kid gets hurt in a (Riddell) SpeedFlex, that doesn’t have (the analytics). Well, that opens the door for a parent to say, ‘My son could’ve been safer, but so-and-so made the decision for us that my kid wasn’t going to wear the Axiom.’ Parents could weaponize not having it.”
In the 2025 Virginia Tech varsity football helmet ratings, the Axiom had a five-star safety rating and was ranked the seventh safest helmet of 34 tested.
For his part, Bennett said the Axioms and its corresponding technology positively impacted player safety. The helmets helped him shape practice plans and drills based on the impact data. He also noted that he used feedback from InSite Analytics during games to be proactive about having his medical staff check on players following high-impact collisions.
“During games, I’m holding the (Riddell Sideline Device) and it will alarm me about a big impact with Player A, and that tells me we need to get him off the field to get checked out,” Bennett said. “What inevitably happens is, and what we have to get away from, is the avoidance of the fact that head trauma is head trauma. Those kids have to be removed immediately if there’s a question about it following (a big hit).
“Kids don’t want to come off the field, so they try to hide it, and what this does is help protect kids from themselves.”
The Axiom helmet is valued at $980 each, according to Riddell’s 2025 catalog, and the Broncos’ overall investment over the four-year program is around $12 million. Each participating program will receive 25% of the donated helmets each year, starting in 2025, with the total number of helmets determined by the average roster size of its classification.
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