New NFL helmet accessories reduce concussions – but players and fans might not be able to put safety over loot

With the autumn, the football season begins within the USA and with it the parade of distinctively decorated helmets worn by the players.

Over time, the form and size of those helmets have progressively modified, from the Leather headgear of the early Twentieth century to the Plastic domes within the space age we’re used to seeing today.

But the visual profile of some NFL football helmets could change dramatically in 2024. The league has approved using padded helmet accessories called Guardian Caps during play, which the NFL says can “reduce the force from head contact.” by as much as 20%.

A backlash has already begun. Some players have complained concerning the unwieldiness of the devices. And each fans and players have turned pale after they saw how the clunky accessory makes the players' heads appear disproportionately large.

Because I’m working on a cultural history of the football helmetI'm excited to see what happens.

In a multi-billion dollar sport where The helmet is the outstanding trademark and symbol of the sportWhat happens when player safety conflicts with the visual appeal of the sport?

We'll discover soon.

From the practice field to the playing field

Attaches with snaps and velcro straps to the surface of players' existing helmets. Guardian Caps consist of a series of soppy, linear cushions connected by fabric.

After the caps were introduced in 2010, some college and skilled teams progressively adopted them during training. In 2022 The NFL now requires their use in preseason trainingInitially, only linemen and linebackers needed to wear them. By 2024, the league has made it mandatory all players except quarterbacks and kickers wear them during training. In April 2024, the league announced that players could wear them in regular season games at their discretion.

There appears to be good reason to encourage their use. Based on data collected from all 32 teams, the league found that the devices Reduce the impact force in frontal collisions by 20% if each players involved wear the device, and by 10% if one among the players wears one.

Some scientists expressed skepticism towards the NFL's top secret research data. Nevertheless, the league claims that there’s a Stunning 52% drop in concussion reports during preseason training because the equipment became mandatory.

Touting the protection advantages of Guardian Caps is clearly a PR success for the NFL. Ongoing research into chronic traumatic encephalopathyor CTE, and other traumatic brain injuries proceed to exhibit the damage that repeated blows to the pinnacle can do to the brain, with football players being particularly in danger.

Many players have supported the League’s efforts Putting safety first, including running back of the Indianapolis Colts Jonathan Taylorwho became the primary top-class skill position player wear a guard's cap during a warm-up match on August 11, 2024.

Players protest

But the story of the launch of Guardian Caps just isn’t an unqualified success – no less than not yet.

Although the usual edition of the Guardian Caps weigh lower than 7 ounces (0.2 kilograms), many players find them heavy and hot.

“I hate them,” Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Jarran Reed told the Seattle Times“I understand the safety concerns, but I've been playing for a long time. To me, it just looks crazy. I don't like them. I'm ready to take them off.”

“I can’t stand them. It affects my swag,” Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay told CBS Sports“My game is part of my prey. If I don't look like it, I can't feel like it.”

Obviously, in such a quick and brutal game, the smallest differences – each physical and mental – could make a difference in performance. And players like Reed, Slay and no less than a dozen Miscellaneous seem unwilling to sacrifice their ability to maximise performance on the sector for incremental safety gains.

As vital as such players' objections to the appear and feel of the Guardian Caps could also be, it might not be the largest problem the NFL faces in introducing these caps.

Tarnishing the brand

Simply put, many fans think that the Guardian Caps Are uglyeven in the event that they covered with fabric which mimics the look of the logos on the plastic shell underneath.

But why should the fans' response matter? After all, they are usually not those risking their health.

In addition, through the first 75 years of football history, most helmets were unremarkable. According to football historian Timothy P. Brown, early helmets were made from plain leather in “various shades of brown or black,” in order that they all looked kind of the identicalin addition to many team uniforms.” Only within the Nineteen Forties and 50s as the primary plastic models of the sporting goods manufacturer Riddell began to achieve popularity that the potential of the helmet as a canvas for adornment began to be realized.

And yet, much of the NFL's incredible success is resulting from its visual appeal.

In the early Sixties, then NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle noticed that television, not ticket sales, would drive the longer term financial success of football. Helmet branding was a vital way to advertise and have fun the identity of an NFL teamFor television viewers, the helmet logos became clearer and more colourful as broadcast technology improved.

Today, the logos that first appeared on helmets within the mid-Twentieth century have grow to be icons Multi-billion dollar brands with Hundreds of hundreds of thousands of fans around the globe.

The negative impact of the Guardian Caps on the look of the sport and the importance of that look to the sport's continued popularity haven’t gone unnoticed.

“Football is a very visual sport,” Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote“The success of The New York is based in large part on its appearance on television.”

“With smooth helmets covered with lumpy coatings that look like soundproofing panels, the atmosphere is compromised,” he added.

Fortunately for Florio and others who don’t just like the look of the Guardian Cap, the NFL has already approved and promoted using six latest helmet models which supposedly offer the identical protection as those equipped with the Guardian Cap.

These models don't look quite like regular helmets either. But they don't appear to be Guardian Caps, and that might make all of the difference.