Despite efforts to reduce head injuries, many football players are not wearing Guardian Caps, the padded covers that fit over helmets.
The National Football League made it mandatory for all players to wear Guardian Caps during training camp, but that requirement does not translate to preseason or regular season games. About 25 NFL players wore Guardian Caps out of 1,696 active players in the 2025-2026 season.
The caps can absorb at least 10% of the force of a hit, the NFL claims, and provide 15% to 20% more protection, according to the Stanford University School of Medicine. Even with the increased protection, evidence is conflicting on whether the caps actually reduce concussions. The NFL claims a significant reduction, while college and high school levels do not see the same results.
According to the British Journal of Sports Medicine, “Guardian Cap use in high school American footballers during practice was not associated with a decreased risk of sustaining a sport-related concussion during practice or games.”
Alaina Davis, Ph.D., a speech language pathologist who specializes in traumatic brain injury and concussions, speaks to the limitations of the Guardian Cap for football players.
“The cap might lessen some of the impact of the hit, where they may be less likely to experience a loss of consciousness,” Davis said. “But if the brain is still shaking around on the inside upon a hit, there’s still the potential for them to experience a concussion.”
“It also can depend on how many concussions they’ve had already,” said Davis, associate professor and chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Howard University.
Players have expressed the effectiveness of the caps, but also the negatives they bring when on the field.
“They 100% work,” said Makhi Green, running back for Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey. “It’s just that the weather, like rain, can make them feel heavier or weigh them down.”
This further reinforces the idea that the caps are unpopular because of their design. The design of the caps can cause discomfort in-game and are also seen as visually unappealing.
“Most of the time, the color of the layer over the cap doesn’t even match the color of the uniform, and it looks bulky,” said former player Jayden Mason. “I feel like more players would wear them if they had a better design.”
Philadelphia Eagles tight end Kylen Granson has the preventative mindset.
“Anything I can do to mitigate any sort of brain injury or long-term health effects that would be detrimental to me takes precedent,” Granson said on TikTok.
Davis believes that concussion protocol still needs to be followed closely, on top of Guardian Caps and other helmet evolutions, to see a reduction in head injuries.
“Definitely more needs to be done,” she said. “I love the effort, but the return-to-play protocols have to be followed more. There’s still a history of sending athletes back out way too soon.”
William Armstead is a sports reporter for HUNewsService.com.
