NFL Expands Mandate of Guardian Caps to Include In-Game Wear Permissions and Additional Position Groups for the 2024 Season
Atlanta, GA–April 25, 2024–The NFL has expanded its Guardian Cap mandate once again for the 2024 season. Since the 2022 season, the NFL has mandated the use of the Guardian Cap in practices. This 2024 season, defensive backs and receivers have joined the list of positions required to wear Guardian Caps for all contact practices through the post season. Positions mandated to wear the Guardian Cap now include: OL, DL, LB, DB, TE, RB, FB, WR. Additionally, due to the efficacy of the Guardian Cap in practice, the NFL has now permitted players to wear the Guardian Cap, if they so choose, during games for the 2024-2025 season.
In a recent webinar, NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills led a discussion with a panel of experts on how the league has made rules changes and driven innovations in protective equipment and helmet impact detection technology that help reduce head impacts to players. Excerpts from the webinar, and data facts on the Guardian Cap effectiveness include:
“We’ve got two years of data now showing significant concussion reductions in those players that wear Guardian Caps in the NFL,” said Dr. Allen Sills, MD, FACS, Chief Medical Officer of the NFL. “We might actually see a Guardian Cap on a player in a game this year.”
“It’s really become a norm here. The players know the Caps. They’ve seen the data, it works. The Guardian Caps have become another piece of equipment that they take to practice. You think about all the head impacts that we’re reducing from players wearing them and it’s second nature now,” said Brendan Burger, Equipment Director of the Los Angeles Rams.
“We have tested Guardian Caps in labs and have seen significant reduction in the impact forces that the head sees when the Guardian Cap is on the helmet. It is very promising in the lab and on the field,” said Ann Bailey Good, PhD, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Biocore, LLC
“We have expanded the mandate to all players with the option for quarterback, kicker, and punter. There is also the option for the player to wear it in the game if he so chooses,” said Dawn Aponte, Chief Administrator of Football Operations at the NFL.
- The expansion of the mandate of Guardian Caps follows positive data since the implementation two years ago.
- Data from the 2022 showed the position groups required to wear Guardian Cap during the mandated period in the preseason saw a more than 50% reduction in concussions versus a previous three-year average (2018, 2019, 2021; the anomalous 2020 season is excluded). There was no increase in concussions among the position groups wearing Guardian Caps after the mandated period ended.
- The league’s data showed that if one player is wearing the Guardian Cap at the time of a helmet hit, the cap will absorb at least 10 percent of the force. If both players are wearing the cap and have a helmet-to-helmet hit, the force of the impact is reduced by at least 20 percent.
- The NFL reported that Guardian Caps worn during training camp practices in 2023 helped the league realize a seven-year low in training-camp concussions.
“We are proud to be a part of improving outcomes for players and grateful to the NFL for their investment in player safety. While we are proud of our current products and their performance on the field, we will continue to iterate the Guardian Cap to offer improved performance and aesthetics for the future,” said Erin Hanson, Founder and CEO of Guardian Innovations.
About the Guardian Cap: Guardian was founded in 2010 with the mission of better protecting players through advancements in technology. Erin and Lee Hanson utilized their expertise from their material science business, the Hanson Group, to engineer, patent, and manufacture Guardian’s flagship product, the Guardian Cap, which was launched in 2011. After successful biomechanical testing and field testing, the company began marketing and selling in 2012. Fast forward and now 300+ college programs such as Clemson University (heading into their 11th season with Guardian Caps), Penn State, University of Georgia, University of Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida State, Texas A&M, University of Oklahoma, University of Oregon, University of Washington, and hundreds of others have implemented Guardian Caps, along with 3000+ high school and 750+ youth programs all around the nation. For more information please visit: https://guardiansports.com/guardian-caps/
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
