“Looks like a damn spaceship” Aaron Rodgers isn’t happy

Every year, the NFL updates its list of banned helmets, removing models that no longer meet safety standards for players. One of the latest to be affected is veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers, now with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who was forced to retire his trusted Schutt Air XP Pro Q11 LTD after the league deemed it unsafe.

For now, the Steelers’ high-profile offseason acquisition has been participating in training camp wearing the Schutt Air XP Pro VTD II. But Rodgers isn’t thrilled with the change. He says the new helmet feels awkward and even joked that it resembles a spacecraft due to the poor fit of the face mask.

“We’re trying to find the right helmet”

“I still don’t like it,” Rodgers told reporters this week. “I’m trying to change - we’re in the process, still. It looks like a damn spaceship out there. We’ve got to change it. The face mask doesn’t fit the helmet because it’s an old face mask - obviously, just like I’m old. We’re trying to find the right helmet right now.”

During the offseason, Rodgers also experimented with the Schutt F7 Pro, but that didn’t stick either. Despite his discomfort, the F7 Pro ranks among the top-performing helmets in NFL and NFLPA lab tests - surpassed only by the Riddell Axiom 3D and the VICIS ZERO2-R MATRIX ID 2025.

Which helmets are banned by the NFL?

In addition to Rodgers’ former helmet, the NFL has prohibited several other models for the 2025 season. These include Riddell’s Foundation, Speed Icon, Speed, and Revolution Speed Classic, as well as Xenith’s Epic and Epic+.

The full list of helmets banned by the NFL:

• LIGHT: LS1 Composite, LS2
• Rawlings: Impulse, Impulse+, Tachyon, Quantum, Quantum+
• Riddell: Foundation, Revolution, Revolution IQ, Revolution Speed Classic, Speed, Speed Classic Icon, Speed Icon, VSR-4
• Schutt: Air Advantage, Air XP, Air XP Pro, Air XP Pro Q10, Air XP Pro Q10 VTD, Air XP Pro Q11, Air XP Pro Q11 LTD, F7, F7 VTD, F5, Vengeance Pro, Vengeance Pro LTD, Vengeance VTD II, Vengeance 210, Vengeance Z10 LTD
• SG: Varsity, 2.0
• Xenith: Epic, Epic+, X2E, X2E+

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