Helmets in the NFL have a plethora of stickers on them. From special decals for deceased members of an organization, to flags representing players’ heritage, it’s rare nowadays to see a lid that isn’t littered with stickers.
One of the markers that can be seen on select helmets is a green dot. It’s not nearly as common as the other labels, as only designated players are allowed to sport the green sticker on their helmet. However, it can still be seen every now and then on the field.
The green additions to the headgear aren’t just a fashion statement. There is actually an important meaning behind the helmet decal.
MORE: Why NFL players have flags on their helmet
The Sporting News explains what the green dot is and what it means:
What is the green dot on football helmets?
The green dot on NFL helmets signifies a player that is allowed to communicate with their sidelines via radio.
Since there are only select players allowed to have the radios in their helmets, the league had to implement a way for officials to identify those players. Hence, the introduction of the green dot on the helmets.
Green dot in football meaning
The green dot is the green light for a player to use a radio to communicate with the sidelines. With how fast the game has become, coaches need to send play calls to the offense — and defense — in a timely manner. By having a radio inside the helmet, it makes the communication process so much more efficient.
The technology in place only goes one way. The coach can voice instructions to their player, but the player cannot reply. The signal is cut off when the play clock hits 15 seconds or when the ball is snapped, whichever comes first, and is not in effect while the game action is happening.
At first, only quarterbacks were allowed to have the radios, thus they were the only ones with a green dot. That is no longer the case, as defensive players have been given permission to install a device inside their lid to hear the schemes from the coaching staff.
The NFL rulebook spells out the parameters for helmet radio use:
Each offensive and defensive team is permitted no more than one player on the field with a speaker in his helmet. Each team is permitted to have a maximum of three active radio receivers to be used on offense by its quarterbacks, and a maximum of three active radio receivers to be used on defense by players who have been designated as a primary and backup users.
What about players like the Saints’ Taysom Hill, who generally play another position but line up at quarterback occasionally? The rulebook says those players must have two helmets available: one with the radio and one without.
While the quarterback wearing the green dot on offense is relatively straightforward, it can get more complicated on the defensive side with only one green-dot player allowed on the field at a time.
Typically, linebackers have the green dots on defense, but Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said in a 2017 interview that game situations can affect which radio-equipped players are on the field:
“By rule, we can have three guys, because the NFL acknowledges that a second-level defender wearing the green dot, whoever he may be, is not an all-situations player,” Tomlin said. “Sometimes you may have a guy who stands in front of your huddle on first and second downs … and on third down you might have an oversized safety standing in front of your defense.”
The rulebook specifies that any change in the defensive player wearing a radio helmet must be communicated to the umpire on the field. Players who fail to do so are subject to a five-yard penalty for illegal substitution.
NFL history of radios in helmets
For years, there was no on-field communication allowed between players and coaches. However, that all changed in 1993 with the introduction of radios in the league.
Ahead of the 1993 season, the NFL elected to decrease the play clock from 45 seconds to 40. It resulted in coaches burning more timeouts, leaving teams unhappy with the altered time frame given between plays. While the league did not change the play clock, the NFL did allow quarterbacks to plant radios in their helmets to communicate with their sidelines for the 1994 campaign.
From 1994 to 2012, the NFL used analog radio before switching to digital in 2012.
