In early 2023, the NFL released concussion data from the previous season. The data stated that in the 2022 regular season, NFL players suffered 149 concussions over a span of 271 games played. This number was alarming to some because not only was this an 18% jump in concussions suffered from the previous year’s (2021) total of 126, but also a 14% jump from the previous 3-year rolling average of 130 between the 2018 and 2020 NFL regular season.
In a sport as physical and contact-oriented as football, maintaining player safety is paramount which has been seen recently with the NFL’s implementation of the new kickoff rules. Player safety remains the top priority from the youth level all the way to the pros, and the league shows no signs of stopping as they introduce the ability to wear Guardian Caps in live games for the 2024 season.
First launched back in 2011, the Guardian Cap is a layer of padding added to the outer shell of the football helmet with the objective in mind to reduce the risk of injury (mainly concussions). In theory, it would work by helping to absorb head-on contact and lower the impact of collisions. According to the manufacturer, the cap has shown to reduce the impact by up to 33%.
The Guardian Cap is nothing new to the NFL; the first use of the cap in practice is traced back to 2020. Upon the league’s research and testing, they officially permitted the use of the caps in practice in 2021. Later in 2022, the league began mandating the use of the Guardian Cap in training camps for specific position groups. Among them were tight ends, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, and linebackers. This mandate has since been further expanded upon, adding running backs and fullbacks to the group in 2023, as well as wide receivers and defensive backs this past offseason in early 2024.
According to studies by the NFL since the 2022 mandate, concussions have dropped by a staggering 52% among players wearing the cap compared to players at the same positions who have not worn the cap over the last three years. Additionally, the league data reports that when one player wears the cap, the impact of a head-on collision is absorbed by the cap at about 11%, as well as around 20% if both players are wearing the cap.
PLU is just one of the more than 200 colleges that use Guardian Caps in practice, and have done so since 2022. “Obviously a logo is not important, what’s important is someone’s brain,” PLU Head Coach Brant McAdams says. “At the end of the day, the safety of the players is what matters most. You’re not ever gonna get down to zero; it’s sports, and same with life. All the measures you can take in place that still let you play the game is good.”
With the links that concussions share with CTE at the forefront of many health professionals’ minds, the question remains should the NFL mandate the use of the Guardian Cap for all players moving forward? Coach McAdams also thinks so, saying “Anytime you’ve got contact and the ability to make the game safer, we’re for it.”
