NJ high school football team using protective collars

NEW JERSEY (FOX 5 NEWS) - 2015 will go down as one of the deadliest years in high school football history. Sports Illustrated cites 11 players across the country who have died from football related conditions. At least 5 of those teens died of head injuries.

Bergen Catholic High School football coach Nunzio Campanile is determined to keep those players safe. That's why this season half a dozen players on the team began using a device that until recently has only been used on college football teams. It's called the Kerr Collar.

Dr Patrick Kerr developed it as a way to stabilize the neck and cushion a player's head against impact.

But neurosurgeon Ezriel Kornel says it shouldn't be the only line of defense. In football every collision is different.

The goal for Dr. Kerr is to get his collars in every middle school and high school in the United States and eventually have the collar become part of the regular uniform.