Over the summer, the talk around the NFL has been about Guardian Caps, as some players are beginning to wear the protective helmet equipment during games. Football, the most popular sport in America, has every fan itching to watch spectacular touchdowns and explosive hits, but the conversation of player safety is always in the news.

As football helmet technology continues to improve, innovations like the Guardian Caps are throwing new ideas into the mix. Removing a hard shell from helmets and replacing them with soft material could be a revolutionary change to limit or prevent concussions in football, among other contact sports.

The Guardian Cap, which has a soft padded foam exterior that can be strapped on to football, hockey, and lacrosse helmets, have been shown to decrease the likelihood of concussions during collisions.

“It brings a padded, soft-shell layer to the outside of the decades old hard-shell and reduces impact up to 33%,” according to Guardian’s website. 

This year, players have the option to wear Guardian Caps during games, though they were mandated by the NFL to wear them during pre-season practices involving contact.

A few NFL players have already worn Guardian Caps during real games this preseason. As more NFL players see the added safety insurance, it would not be surprising to see them worn more often by players in the coming years.

Repeated concussions for NFL players can be career-ending or can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) after players retire from the sport. According the Mayo Clinic, CTE “causes the death of nerve cells in the brain, known as degeneration. CTE gets worse over time. The only way to definitively diagnosis CTE is after death during an autopsy of the brain.” 

Though it can affect anyone who has suffered repeated concussions, CTE is commonly associated with NFL players, especially since the helmet technology was so poor for a good portion of the sport’s history.

“The Guardian Cap has been a very important change for us as it has shown to reduce impact,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in March. “It has been very effective and has reduced concussions by 52%.” 

With such positive data regarding the new helmet technology, the thought now is that it may become the new norm for every player. Such a development would vastly diminish the chance that hard contact hits delivered helmet to helmet end up resulting in serious injury.

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Special thanks to the NA Athletics Department for their help with the photos in this article.