When Sox backup catcher David Ross took two foul balls off his mask on May 11 and suffered a concussion, he asked the medical staff to find a way to better protect him. They called Unequal and Ross was given a skullcap made of the material that he wore under his helmet when he returned from the disabled list.

The same padding used to protect Ben Roethlisberger, Charlie Batch and James Harrison from hard hits is now being tested by student athletes at an Allegheny County high school.

Advancements in protective gear

With bigger hits than ever on the field, athletes want to be more protected. Two behind-the-scenes companies are standing out when it comes to protective gear in sports. First, there's Unequal Technologies, a company that soared in popularity after Michael Vick discovered it (the company also makes military gear). Today, the company outfits the Pittsburgh Steelers, including Troy Polamalu and Big Ben as well as James Harrison, who searched for better helmet padding after a helmet-to-helmet hit broke his eye socket. Unequal Technologies' CEO stands strong behind the technology: Rob Vito guarantees that players won't get hurt on game day.

I think Unequal is what made all the difference between me being out for a few days and me being out for a few months. That was probably the worst fall I’ve had in my life and on falls that weren’t nearly as bad I’ve had to stay out for a lot longer than that. Being able to just take a few days off snow and kind of be able to recover and knowing that I have that kind of protection definitely helps me to progress my riding more.

Unequal has saved multiple winter action sports athletes including Levi LaVallee, Torah Bright, Benji Farrow, and Maddy Shaffrick, who all now swear by wearing it whenever they’re on the slopes.

Safety is always one of the biggest concerns on the mountain and with more innovative technology, this is saving season-ending injuries, especially for winter action sport athletes.

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The day Australian snowboarder Torah Bright captured an Olympic gold medal in the halfpipe she had a pounding headache.

The next day, too. And the next, and the next.

Basically, this went on for almost two years, the result of three concussions leading up to the 2010 Vancouver Games. Any sort of physical activity - much less riding in the pipe - triggered intense headaches and instant fatigue.

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Unequal Technologies CEO Rob Vito joins Brian Kilmeade live from New Orleans to discuss Unequal's custom concealed padding fortified with Kevlar®

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Around 100 million people will watch the Super Bowl this month, but lately football-related concussions have been dominating the headlines. More than 3,000 retired players and their families recently sued the National Football League, alleging that it hid information linking head injuries to brain disease. Now, one company aims to make the sport safer, using technology developed for the military.

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This has been an amazing couple of weeks for the Unequal Snowboard Team. I have a bit of a personal stake in this whole thing because my daughter, Arielle Gold and my son Taylor Gold are both Unequal Team members as well as members of the US Snowboard Team, but I'm also trying to document how Unequal is rapidly becoming an important part of so many Professional snowboarder's lives first and foremost to protect them, but also in protecting them giving them additional confidence to push their own limits and achieve amazing results.

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After making major inroads into the NFL, NHL and MLB, UNEQUAL® Technologies, the world's only provider of concealed sports protection for the head and body fortified with Kevlar, is now responding to demand from top winter action sport athletes looking for protection that actually protects. Winter X Games Legend and world record holder Levi LaVallee , U.S. Snowboarding Team members Arielle and Taylor Gold , Maddy Schaffrick and others are among the many now warming up to Unequal brand protection.

4-Time Winter X Games gold medalist and fan favorite Levi LaVallee , who was just named One of the 50 Most Influential People in Action Sports, has sustained multiple injuries and concussions in the past. He won't jump or race his snowmobile without Unequal.

Rob Vito, President of Unequal Technologies, discusses his company's prototype MLB cap which will help reduce the severity of head injury to players.

NEW YORK -- By the end of this week, at least a dozen big league pitchers will have padded caps to try out as Major League Baseball looks into ways to improve protection against head injuries from line drives.

Rob Vito, president of the Pennsylvania-based equipment manufacturer Unequal Technologies Co., said MLB has examined caps containing Unequal's padding and requested and received modifications, as well as the results of laboratory testing. Vito said he's encouraged by his communications with MLB and is now sending caps lined with the padding to pitchers for their examination and experimentation.

UNEQUAL's Patented Kevlar-Based EXO Skeleton Padding Designed to Protect Baseball Players From the Majors to Little League

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers aren't taking any chances with their franchise quarterback's sprained right shoulder and dislocated rib.

Though the Steelers confirmed Ben Roethlisberger will return to the starting lineup on Sunday against San Diego after missing three weeks due to injury, Roethlisberger will take the field with a little extra protection.

Roethlisberger will play with a custom fit rib/chest compression shirt and a layer of Kevlar-lined composite in his shoulder pads to help absorb hits to his clavicle and shoulder joint regions.

The padding, made by Unequal Technologies, has grown popular across the NFL. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick wore a similar compression shirt after injuring his ribs a few years ago and dozens of players — including Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu and linebacker James Harrison — use Unequal PADS in their helmets.

I assumed this was a new type of helmet, but it's not. It isn't sport-specific. It isn't, relatively speaking, expensive, or heavy, or weird-looking. And it wasn't originally developed for sports applications at all.

So what is this stuff? It's called CRT (Concussion Reduction Technology,) and it is a sort of sandwich of military-grade kevlar and a foam which disperses energy. The sports applications are quite recent. Michael Vick wore a vest, adapted from the military style bullet-proof vests, so he could play a week after breaking his ribs.

Through his career, Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison has been suspended for a game and fined well over $100,000 for hits the NFL deemed illegal, but when it came to concussion protection and prevention, Harrison had to find his own solution outside the boundaries of the NFL.

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison didn't want to wait for the NFL to do something about protecting his head, so the four-time Pro Bowler decided to do it himself.

After enduring what he estimated as "double digit" bouts with concussion-like symptoms throughout his decade-long career, Harrison began using a special layer of padding inside his helmet last fall and is pleased with the results.

"I haven't seen any spots or had any blackouts," Harrison said Tuesday.

Harrison was the first NFL player to use the CRT padding developed by Unequal Technologies inside his helmet. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick began using a flak jacket lined with military-grade Kevlar during the 2010 season, but Harrison was the first player to put the quarter-inch padding in his helmet.

Joe Valenti and Phil Valenti of Valenti Sports try out the NEW Unequal Technologies by hitting each other with a baseball bat

Pennsylvania firm says it has developed a helmet liner that reduces the energy of blows to the head. Linebacker James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers, a target of NFL discipline for helmet-to-helmet hits that have caused concussions, is a convert who says the thin insert has helped him avoid "concussion-like symptoms" of his own.

John Horan's Deep Intelligence - The gridiron is front and center in the public's growing awareness of the dangers of concussions in youth sports. Can Robert Vito and his company, Unequal, save football? We offer complete analysis.