AbstractFootball helmets contain a label designed to warn players of potentially catastrophic hazards associated with using the helmet as a point of contact. We assessed the effectiveness of the label in communicating this information to high‐school football players by asking them to reproduce the label's contents from memory under three conditions: pre‐season recall (n− 177), post‐season recall (n‐ 60), and post‐season recall with verbal priming (n− 71). Only 26 per cent of the athletes assessed at pre‐season recalled both the potential consequences of injury and the behavioural guidelines. Thus, most subjects were unable to recall the elements specified in protection motivation theory as necessary for inducing behavioural compliance. Exposure to the label over the course of the season did not enhance recall of these elements. In the post‐season priming condition, verbal reference to awarning labelproduced a significant priming effect in recall of the injury consequences; it did not affect recall of the behavioural guidelines. Implications for enhancing the efficacy of helmet warning labels are discussed, and future research directio