NFL players will have the option to wear a Guardian Cap on their helmet for games this season.
The helmets of select NFL players might look a little larger than usual this fall.
The league has approved the (optional) use of Guardian Caps for regular season games during the 2024 season. After mandating the caps for practice in 2023, the NFL saw a reduced number of head injuries. The caps are not mandatory for games, but players can choose to wear them.
“We now have two years of data showing significant concussion reductions among players who wear Guardian Caps during practice so players will be permitted to wear the cap during games this upcoming season,” Jeff Miller, the NFL’s EVP overseeing player health and safety said in a statement.
It remains to be seen how many players will opt into wearing a cap during a game. One would assume that offensive linemen and players returning from concussions will be the most likely candidates to wear the extra protection.
The Guardian Caps will be mandatory for most positions at practice this summer, and then become optional when games begin in the fall.
The NFL has greenlit a dozen new helmet choices for players, including 8 models specifically for quarterbacks and linemen:
The NFL has unveiled a dozen new helmets for players to choose from in 2024, 8 of which are specifically for quarterbacks and linemen on both sides of the ball. Helmets for quarterbacks are meant to limit the impact to the back of the head when falling backwards. Offensive and defensive linemen collide every snap, so their helmets are meant to protect the front of the head. New Orleans Saints players have been quick to adopt these new equipment options in the past, so we may see more of them this season.
Quarterbacks and linemen are the only positions with helmets catered to them, with hopes wide receivers and defensive backs join this group in 2025. Linebackers and running backs being left out feels on par with how the NFL views the positions. They aren’t viewed as valuable financially. Despite being two of the most violent positions, they aren’t next up for specially designed helmets.
This isn’t the first rollout of position specific helmets, rather a rollout of new models. Last year, only nine quarterbacks and 20 linemen took advantage of these choices. Six of the new helmets have been deemed safe enough to not need the Guardian Cap worn by players in practice. There’s a hope the chance to ditch the Guardian Cap will make more players wear the new helmet. We’ll see whether any Saints players make the switch when practices pick up this summer.
Josh Heupel discusses Tennessee using Guardian Caps for player safety.
Guardian Caps are worn by student-athletes in Tennessee football practices.
Guardian Cap is a leader in soft-shell helmet covers that are engineered for impact reduction. It uses padded, soft-shell technology on the outside of the decades old hard-shell football helmet. The product reduces impact up to 33 percent.
“It’s something that I had not used as an assistant, and when I got to UCF I was interested in and they had been using previously,” Heupel said. “It’s something that as we came here they were using it consistently. At the end of the day, every coach in the country, head coach and assistants, you’re trying to get the work that you need in over the course of training camp or practice during the week. At the same time, you’re trying to take care of your players.
“As we found more out about this game and how to keep their heads healthy, you’re looking for every advantage to put your players in the best position to be safe. We’ve been using it here. We do see that it’s limited. The things that happen, in particular over the course of training camp, and the long term research that’s taken place, a lot of it through the NFL, just repetitive hits and how that affects you long term during your life potentially, we feel like it’s definitely the right thing to do and use to make sure we’re taking care of our players the best way we can. Our medical staff, our training staff, do a great job of continuing to track all that information and make sure we’re staying up to date.”
SEC football head coaches discuss having Guardian Caps in their programs for player safety.
Guardian Caps have been a staple in football practices throughout the Southeastern Conference.
Guardian Cap is a leader in soft-shell helmet covers that are engineered for impact reduction. It uses padded, soft-shell technology on the outside of the decades old hard-shell football helmet. The product reduces impact up to 33 percent.
Guardian Caps are worn by 275-plus colleges, including all SEC schools, 3,000-plus high schools, 750-plus youth programs, 32 NFL teams and nine CFL teams. In 2023, the NFL and CFL have mandated Guardian Caps for contact practices.
Guardian Cap co-founder and CEO Erin Hanson discussed her vision to help players’ safety throughout football with Vols Wire.
“We started this whole project in 2010,” Hanson said. “Our whole goal in starting it was really to just help players across the board.”
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
During the 2023 season, 14 SEC football head coaches discussed with Vols Wire about their teams wearing Guardian Caps. Their analysis of Guardian Caps for player safety are listed below.
One player who’s definitely not a fan is Seahawks defensive end Shelby Harris, who thinks they’ll lead to bad habits.
You may have noticed that NFL players at a few different positions – namely linemen, linebackers and tight ends – have been wearing something extra on their helmets at training camp. The new Guardian Caps are required to be worn by players at those spots during practice through the first two weeks of the season.
One player who’s definitely not a fan is Seahawks defensive end Shelby Harris, who thinks they’ll lead to bad habits. Here’s Harris after practice yesterday explaining why he thinks they’re stupid, per Pro Football Talk.
“They’re stupid… Because here’s the thing though, I get what they’re trying to do, but the main thing is, you might have guys that start leading with their head more because they’re used to not feeling it, and don’t know they’re doing it, because they have this big old helmet thing on. And then you get in the game, and next thing you know, they knock themselves out. I don’t know, I just don’t think this is necessarily the answer because of the fact that if you do get used to getting hit in the head with this, you wouldn’t even know.”
Harris came over from Denver as part of the Russell Wilson trade. He’ll be starting up front next to Poona Ford and Al Woods in Seattle’s new 3-4 defensive front. Harris is entering his eighth season in the NFL.
#Chiefs TE Travis Kelce isn’t a fan of wearing the NFL’s mandated “Guardian Cap” on his helmet during training camp practices.
Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce isn’t a fan of wearing the NFL’s new “Guardian Caps.”
The NFL competition committee mandated the use of these new “Guardian Caps” during practice for offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers and tight ends throughout training camp. This new safety measure is said to help fight against concussions during the point of the year when they most frequently occur.
According to the NFL, wearing these soft shells over helmets results in a significant reduction of impact in head-to-head collisions. If only one player is wearing it, there is a 10% reduction in the severity of impact. If two players are wearing it, it reduces the impact severity by 20%.
Players understand that these new measures are done with their safety in mind, but after wearing them for two weeks at training camp, Chiefs TE Travis Kelce still isn’t a fan.
“I think the guardian caps are silly,” Kelce said. “We’re just out here wearing mushroom helmets that are doing nothing but adding weight to our heads. Hopefully, we can get rid of those so we don’t have to wear them again.”
Part of the NFL’s reasoning behind mandating these caps is to help players form better habits, which could influence safer play during the regular season. Chiefs assistant HC and special teams coordinator Dave Toub doesn’t know if that will actually be the case, but he thinks it’ll be a worthwhile endeavor if it reduces head injuries.
“I think it’s good right now,” Toub said. “I don’t know that it’s going to teach any habits. It’s only a couple of weeks that we’ve got to wear it. I think if it prevents two or three head injuries that we would have had, it’s a good thing.”
Los campamentos de entrenamiento ya arrancaron y suponemos que muchos de ustedes han notado que muchos de los jugadores están usando unas protecciones acolchonadas en sus cascos y también suponemos que muchos de ustedes se han preguntado qué diablos …
Los campamentos de entrenamiento ya arrancaron y suponemos que muchos de ustedes han notado que muchos de los jugadores están usando unas protecciones acolchonadas en sus cascos y también suponemos que muchos de ustedes se han preguntado qué diablos son.
Bueno, pues estamos aquí para ayudarles. De hecho, nuestro amigo Charles Curtis ya nos ayudó cuando nos explicó por qué tantos jugadores están usando los nuevos “Guardian Caps” en sus cascos. Básicamente, los jugadores de diferentes posiciones los usarán durante los campamentos y su intención es reducir la fuerza del impacto del contacto con la cabeza.
Son obligatorios, así que verán muchos de estos hasta llegar a la temporada.
Packers All-Pro linebacker De’Vondre Campbell isn’t a big fan of wearing a “Guardian Cap” on his helmet during training camp practices.
Green Bay Packers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell doesn’t like the reasoning behind the usage of “Guardian Caps,” a new protective measure worn on the helmet to help reduce the severity of impacts between players during NFL practices.
The Packers have been wearing the covers on helmets of all line of scrimmage players – offensive line, defensive line, linebackers and tight ends – throughout training camp, as mandated by the NFL in March of this year.
“Not a big fan of them,” Campbell said. “I really don’t have any control over them, so I kind of have to do what they say.”
Campbell, a 2021 All-Pro, questioned wearing a protective device that won’t be worn during actual games.
“I just think it’s stupid, to be honest,” Campbell said. “You say you’re doing it to protect us, but the minute we take them off, we’re going to be so used to hitting with them, that when you hit without it, it’s going to feel a lot different. That’s just my two cents on it.”
NFL statistics revealed a high number of concussions sustained early on in training camp. The covering is designed to reduce impact and lessen the frequency of concussions during these early weeks of camp.
Coach Matt LaFleur is fully supportive of the intent of the Guardian Caps – to help preserve the long-term brain health of players – but had similar concerns about the ripple effects of wearing the devices during camp. More specifically, he doesn’t want a false sense of security to weaken a player’s tackling technique and create more head injuries during games.
“The thing I somewhat worry about is when you do have that cushion on your helmet, and we’re making a huge emphasis with our coaches about this, I don’t want the guys to feel the confidence that they can now use their head,” LaFleur said. “So, that’s one of the things that’s not so great about it is you can get a false confidence and now your technique suffers, and I definitely don’t want to see us go that way.”
After the second week of the preseason, teams no longer have to wear the coverings on helmets.
Campbell led the Packers in tackles last season. He signed a $50 million deal to return to Green Bay.
En el campamento de entrenamiento de los Denver Broncos, Bradley Chubb se rio de su nuevo “gorro”, en particular porque no está nada a la moda. “Es un poco feo y no me gusta lo feo”, fue lo que dijo después del primer día de Denver en el campo. El …
En el campamento de entrenamiento de los Denver Broncos, Bradley Chubb se rio de su nuevo “gorro”, en particular porque no está nada a la moda.
“Es un poco feo y no me gusta lo feo”, fue lo que dijo después del primer día de Denver en el campo.
El linebacker, quien lleva jugando cinco años, hablaba sobre el Guardian Cap que él y muchos otros jugadores de la NFL tendrán que utilizar desde ahora hasta después de la segunda semana de los juegos de la pretemporada como un intento de reducir la frecuencia de contusiones que los jugadores suelen sufrir en esta época del año.
La orden la mandó la liga durante las reuniones de primavera de los dueños realizadas en marzo, y la regla dicta que los hombres de la ofensiva y la defensiva, los TE y los lineabackers deben usarlos en las prácticas del arranque de los campamentos de entrenamiento y hasta la tercera semana de la pretemporada, que es cuando los equipos suelen relajar la cantidad de contactos durante las prácticas.
¿Qué es el Guardian Cap?
El Guardian Cap es una protección suave y acolchada que envuelve los cascos de los jugadores. La NFL dice que pueden ayudar a reducir las contusiones hasta en 10% si un jugador involucrado en una colisión lo trae puesto y hasta 20% si ambos jugadores involucrados en una colisión lo traen puesto. En las últimas tres temporadas, antes de que empezara el mandato del Guardian Cap, la NFL reportaba 30 contusiones documentadas por año durante las prácticas de la pretemporada.
En un principio, Guardian Sports, la compañía que fabrica los gorros, los había diseñado con un poco de fondeo obtenido por la NFL para buscar reducir el número de lesiones en la cabeza sufridas durante las prácticas.
¿Por qué la NFL requiere los Guardian Caps?
Generalmente, conforme aumenta el número de contactos en los campamentos de entrenamiento de los equipos, aumenta el número de lesiones en la cabeza o contusiones. Jeff Miller, el Vicepresidente Ejecutivo para la salud y seguridad del jugador de la NFL dijo en marzo que habían acordado un periodo para usar los Guardian Caps, “porque es ahí en donde vemos la mayor concentración de impactos en el casco durante el año. Las alineaciones son más grandes, las prácticas de contacto son más frecuentes, así que esperamos que habrá menos contusiones para nuestros jugadores”.
El miércoles, Nathaniel Hackett, el entrenador de Broncos, los llamó “lindos”.
“Todo el tiempo estamos hablando del equipo y esto es para proteger al equipo”, agregó, “y si eso le va a ayudar a alguien, pues claro que lo vamos a hacer”.
¿A los jugadores de la NFL les gustan los Guardian Caps?
No exactamente, al menos no a todos. Sin embargo, Chubb dijo que estaba más que dispuesto a usarlo si eso ayudaba a que los jugadores se mantuvieran más saludables durante el campamento de entrenamiento.
“Están un poco pesados, pero si van a hacer que estemos a salvo, pues adelante”, fue lo que dijo. “Sé que los muchachos en toda la liga tienen que usarlos, así son las cosas. … Está bien por mí si nos deja llegar a la temporada y disminuye el número de contusiones, está bien”.
Hackett tenía un beneficio complementario en mente sobre todo para los quarterbacks que podrían meterse entre los jugadores para lanzar el balón.
“Creo que al quarterback le da un poco más de protección cuando adelante su mano, es un poco más suave que un casco”, dijo Hackett. “No tienen nada de malo, tal vez lo único es que no es algo que se vea bonito y que después todos querrán usar ni se pondrá de moda”.
