With the Guardian Caps being made an optional accessory during the 2024 NFL season, it has raised loads of controversy and has sparked a debate on health and safety about concussions.
The Guardian Caps are an extra layer of padding that goes on the exterior shell of the helmet. Guardian Caps have been proven to decrease the risk of concussions by 50%, however, fans are still up in arms about players wearing the Guardian Caps during the game.
Fans will bring up the point that Guardian Caps are weird looking, however, Souderton football coach Ed Gallagher believes that the looks of the helmet do not matter as long as the players are safe.
“It’s all about safety, and player safety is the most important thing, especially with a sport that was riddled with concussions for decades,” Gallagher said.
Souderton football player Houston Marshall supports the idea of Guardian Caps, as he believes that poor tackling technique is what causes the most traumatic head injuries.
“When people get concussions, it’s because of poor technique from one of the players during a tackle,” Marshall said, “there’s no doubt that it gives extra protection during poor technique collisions.”
However, Marshall also believes that there is a glaring issue with Guardian Caps being mandatory for games.
“If players know they have that extra protection, they might instinctively drop their head and hit them as hard as they can,” Marshall said. “The players will know that they have that extra protection now, so they might think they don’t need as much technique.”
Many NFL fans may be opposed to the change of helmet technology, but so were the players at the time the first helmet was introduced.
Social studies teacher David Klein believes this, but believes the Guardian Caps are going to lead to healthier players and better games. “Change can always be tricky. There’s always going to be people who don’t approve of things when there’s change,” Klein said.
“I’m okay with them wearing that if it means that it produces a better product on the field, because players will be healthier in both the short term and the long term.”
Wellness teacher Chris Nenstiel believes that the Guardian Caps are only positive and she supports the idea of players being required to wear Guardian Caps during games.
“They’re trying to extend their career as much as they can,” Nenstiel said. “Why not put something in place that can support them and help them to extend their career without causing damage?”
Nenstiel does not only believe that Guardian Caps should be used in the NFL, but also at the high school level.
“According to the Children’s Hospital of Boston, more than half of all emergency room visits for kids ages 8-18 are head trauma related,” Nenstiel said. “Out of that percent of head trauma, football-related concussions are 57% of all traumatic brain injury.”
Nenstiel believes that since kids don’t want to play less football, it leads them to lie during concussion protocol just to continue playing without knowing the consequences of playing with a concussion.
“When you get into concussions, so many of [the players] say concussion protocol [stinks], and it’s so long and there are definitely kids that are publicly saying that they have lied to get out of concussion protocol,” Nenstiel said. “If there’s a second concussion in that span of time when you still have the first one, then you run the risk of second impact syndrome, which is horrific and could lead to death or seizures.”
Nenstiel believes this protocol helps look out for athletes’ best interests. “We know that this is happening, and we know that this is a problem,” Nenstiel said. “Supporting our athletes better so they can have a longer career, a longer life of better quality, kind of seems like a no brainer.”