The latest in shoulder pad technology are in the beads, shock absorbing impact beads. Schutt Sports seem to be the big player here and have taken the Brock Beaded technology and applied them to their Air Flex shoulder pads. The "Brock Beaded Quilt" absorbs and diffuses the force among the thousands of it's impact absorbing beads. Schutt claims that the Beaded Quilt also pushes the hot air out while pushing the cool air closer to the body. Interesting note, Brock International manufacture artificial turf, and use their beaded technology for the shock absorption in the turf, in these shoulder pads.

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Gear 2000 is a popular brand with the pro players and, like Schutt, use impact shock absorbing beads with their Z Cool pads. "Upon impact, each bead tries to separate the adjacent beads sideways, deflecting energy away from the body and thereby absorbing impact." Assuming this is the same "Brock Beaded" technology, since these beads also aid in cooling and keeping the player from excessive moisture. Air is actively circulated in three dimensions. As the body sweats, the sweat coats the waterproof beads and the airflow actively accelerates evaporation, body cooling, and drying.

It looks like Schutt and Gear 2000 are the only two manufacturers that use impact beads. All of the other big players in the shoulder pads market use traditional foam padding; Bike Athletics, Rawlings, Riddell, Adams, and Douglas. Or, how Schutt Sports put it, in their brochure for the Air Flex when describing the foam in their competitor pads; "the same type of foam you'll find in your sofa." heh heh

Oregon Webfoots era leather/canvas shoulder pads.