Late in his team’s game against the Green Bay Packers on September 15, Indianapolis Colts tight end Kylen Granson caught a short pass over the middle of the field, charged forward, and lowered his body to brace for contact. The side of his helmet smacked the face mask of linebacker Quay Walker, and the back of it whacked the ground as Walker wrestled him down. Rising to his feet after the 9-yard gain, Granson tossed the football to an official and returned to the line of scrimmage for the next snap.
Aside from it being his first reception of the 2024 National Football League season, this otherwise ordinary play was only noteworthy because of what Granson was wearing at the time of the hit: a 12-ounce, foam-padded, protective helmet covering called a Guardian Cap.
Already mandatory for most positions at all NFL preseason practices, as well as regular-season and postseason practices with contact, these soft shells received another vote of confidence this year when the league greenlit them for optional game use, citing a roughly 50 percent drop in training camp concussions since their official 2022 debut. Through six weeks of action this fall, only 10 NFL players had actually taken the field with one on, according to a league spokesperson. But the decision was easy for Granson, who tried out his gameday Guardian Cap—itself covered by a 1-ounce pinnie with the Colts logo to simulate the design of the helmet underneath—in preseason games before committing to wear it for real.
Honestly, they don’t even look that weird. Slow adoption is likely just due to the culture of machismo in sports, because the choice to wear it or not is up to each player and they all rib each other for being soft or a pussy all the fucking time.
Even getting MLB catchers to start wearing gloves was like pulling teeth back in the day.
Can you imagine trying to catch a 90 mph fast ball gloveless? Fuck machismo, I need to use my hands tomorrow
Were they actually throwing 90mph fastballs back then? As I understand it athletes weren’t like…training to be athletes in those days. I always thought early baseball was a bunch of pudgy near-drunks who were good at throwing or hitting or catching.
Even if it wasnt going 90 mph its the balls would still be going a respectable speed regardless, reminder we are literally evolved to throw shit even a person with a shit throw is still gonna get it going with a good bit of force.
I was gonna say cricket but their keeper is actually the only one allowed to wear gloves lol
Damn, I might actually watch baseball if they went back to that.
The actual logical conclusion of this will almost certainly be proper deformable helmets which gets replaced frequently during the game.
I doubt that, given that NFL players are generally expected to wear the same helmet all season (unless it’s damaged or too old). It’s no longer a rule, but it was a rule from 2013 to 2021.
A player’s helmets must be the same model under the new rules, so you couldn’t even have 1 normal helmet and 1 deformable helmet. I think that the ability to wear the Guardian Cap over top of a normal helmet is one of the main selling points for that reason.
Deformable helmets would be a great idea to try, though. I just don’t think it would be timely. Maybe in 30 years?
Maybe we should change how the game is played instead of putting helmets on the helmets
We’ve seen the same issues with hockey. The use of plastics in shoulder and elbow protections versus the older leathers and felt padding. When delivering a hit both players feel it, today not so much as a plastic shoulder goes into a face it’s more one way.
As much as they have been changing the rules, a crazy part of me wonders if less equipment might help more, like those old leather helmets. Would players not be hitting as hard?
NHL players not wearing full masks is the height of idiocy. Most of them have worn full masks for at least a decade before going pro so it’s not like they’re going to get screwed up by them.
The really scary thing though isn’t the plastic shells. Those are fine as long as you have proper gear yourself. It’s getting cut by a skate. Every year one or two players will die from getting cut. It’s wild to me that Hockey literally has an acceptable death rate without talking about things like underlying medical conditions.
Is it really that wild? Hockey players are insane people. They literally cannot remove fighting from the sport without the entirety of Canada revolting.
The referees back off and give people space to fight. In the middle of the game. They go from refereeing hockey, to dirty boxing, then back to hockey. It’s a crazy sport.
I mean…
Aren’t there rules for the fighting tho? Like you gotta drop gloves sticks and helmets.
And then don’t both guys fighting ( in this hypothetical scenario) get the penalty?
Idunno man it seems downright civilized if you ask me.
Fwiw, I’ve literally never played hockey in my life. And the last “fight” I got in was a playground scuffle back in fight grade.
Edit: I meant fifth but it’s funnier as fight grade
Other sports don’t allow fighting, but part of the draw of hockey is the morbid curiosity kinda like NASCAR.
In 2023 it was a guy in England. In 2022, a 10th grade kid in Connecticut. 2024 hasn’t had one yet though. So yeah.
You could be right. CTE wasn’t known about back then, but you don’t hear a lot about pro football players in the first half of the 20th century acting like the ones today.
There wasn’t as much media as there is today either, so that may be a factor.
There’s also the fact that advanced in nutrition, exercise, and medicine mean that today’s players move faster and hit harder.
Look at the size/build of the players back then compared to today… It probably didn’t happen as much because people weren’t as big and didn’t hit as hard.
Tiny bit less money involved
Hooray capitalism!
Also enjoying that we have a method for reducing concussions by half, but it isn’t mandatory in games why?
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Yeah one of the biggest issues is the fact that nobody teaches how to properly “hit” and, equally problematic, how to properly “be hit.” Contact sports don’t have to be as violent as they are now.
I think rugby does a fantastic job of this. It’s a much more controlled violence.
Or maybe we should just discourage hits in the first place.
Flag football doesn’t get as many viewers
Ah, well. Guess we’ll just have to live with CTE then.
It’s crazy, but some people are happy getting paid millions to ruin thier body. But, your body your choice and all that, right?
Have you ever wondered why SO MANY football players come from lower-income households? It’s a predatory industry.
And that would be true, if the government didn’t enable pro sports by granting monopolies, subsidizing stadiums, and allowing the horrifying monetization of advertising and gambling, especially on broadcast media.
You want to run headlong into a brick wall, be my guest, but do it with your own time and money, not mine.
They really ought to put helmets on helmets on helmets for maximum safety.
This is a materials science issue to solve. The NFL now realize putting a hard shell outside of a skull doesn’t do much for soaking up impact but a soft body provides protection. The game also discourages hitting the head and does try to avert damage as best as possible. They learn like OSHA; seeing what hit the wall and stuck.
Players with less brain mass and more fluid are the future picks as soon as we correctly factor in medical costs
Would I be way out there to suggest that if you have to go to these lengths to protect a player, maybe it’s not a good sport for the 21st century?
If people want to play it & people enjoy watching it, why discard it rather than make it safer?
I enjoy skydiving, drinking copious amounts of alcohol, & eating fried foods. It’s on me to do those things in moderation.
You aren’t practically guaranteed to have life changing injury from skydiving, drinking, or eating. Several studies have shown that over 90% of football players have CTE. It’s not the same, and not a question of moderation.
The majority of football players do not have CTE. Could they get it? Yes, that’s why this padding has been invented.
These are grown adults taking measured risks & being paid for it, so others can enjoy it.
Don’t like it? Fine. Don’t watch it. But don’t start winging your judgement around thinking everyone who does like it is lesser than you.
People enjoy competition. People enjoy violence. People enjoy booze. People enjoy drugs. People enjoy fuckin’. Get over it.
I guess if you don’t like facts, what you said could be true.
Oh, I LOVE facts. This is the 3rd paragraph of your first fact:
“The NFL player data should not be interpreted to suggest that 91.7 percent of all current and former NFL players have CTE, as brain bank samples are subject to selection biases. The prevalence of CTE among NFL players is unknown as CTE can only be definitively diagnosed after death. Repetitive head impacts appear to be the chief risk factor for CTE, which is characterized by misfolded tau protein that is unlike changes observed from aging,”
Never said CTE wasn’t a thing, just pointed out that these padded covers are helping protect against it.
is unknown as CTE can only be definitively diagnosed after death.
So you didn’t look at the second link, the diagnosed after death part. Which was pretty definitive.
To be fair, I don’t care if grown men want to brain damage themselves. I enjoy watching both boxing and MMA. I don’t think it’s something younger people should be doing though, the head striking at least. At the same time, I’m not going to fool myself that these people I’m watching aren’t damaging their brains.
Neither am I. Those are grown adults getting paid adult wages & who are given adult options to measure their risk vs reward.
The second link doesn’t prove anything as long as football is still a billion dollar industry in this world. Study as many deceased brains as you like, doesn’t change the fact the living ones still like making millions of dollars smashing into one another.
I’m just not willing to call for the dissolution of the NFL or NCAA Football programs because of the possibility.
Football isn’t the enemy here. We put those folks on their pedestals & now everyone wants to blame them for being there.
Because in order to allow them to play it, we are literally damaging our children’s brains?
Don’t let your kids play it? That is your responsibility, not society’s.
Only the parents that allow their children to do it though
People enjoyed playing and watching jousting. We stopped doing it because it’s dangerous and stupid.
Also, drinking copious amounts of alcohol isn’t just on you if you have a family.
People stopped jousting because heads were severed & blood was spilt. I quite enjoy watching the jousting at ren fairs.
Drinking copious amounts of alcohol is not something I invite my family to participate in.
Unless they want to joust. Then I might be swayed.
Heads weren’t severed in jousting, what are you talking about? How would that even work? The jousting you’re watching in ren fairs is scripted. Also, blood is spilled on football fields all the time.
Also…
Drinking copious amounts of alcohol is not something I invite my family to participate in.
I seriously hope you don’t have any kids.
I have 40 children, they’re all drunk now because of you. Just out of spite.
What are you on about? You think those jousters knocked the other jousters off their horses & just started mocking their opponents?
“Hahaha look at the no horse dummy! You lose & I will now abscond with your princess! Hooray I am a jouster!!”
No. They got off their horses & aimed to behead, or otherwise cease the existence of, their opponent.
Yes. Ren Fairs are scripted. So is Wrastlin’ & they spill blood while wrastlin’ too.
What is your point here? You’re above it, so the rest of us are lesser for enjoying it.
People enjoy sport & specifically football. What’s the real problem here? That someone’s subjective opinion differs from yours?
I can only speak for myself, but my main problem is the culture and how these people become football players. They start from a very young age, and if I had kids, the thought of letting them destroy their developing mind like that for a sport would be completely out of the question.
Instead, in some areas of the country, we have families that are pressuring their very young children to enter a sport that will affect their developing brain in profoundly negative ways.
This isn’t only encouraged, it’s highly rewarded. College football coaches at big state schools, are often the highest paid public employee in their respective state.
Once again, this is not society’s responsibility, it’s on the parents.
Don’t want your child to become a roided up rage monster with CTE? Don’t raise them up to believe that sports is their only way forward.
Sports are a path for SOME individuals & those individuals have the CHOICE to decide what is right for them & what isn’t.
Yes family pressure exists, but so does individual choice & the two conflict every day. Hell, I’ve got boobs & a vag despite my parents protestations & I’m better off for it.
For many of those individuals they only see sports as their path forward. Want them to find a better path? Show it to them…
But don’t judge them when they strike out down a path you don’t approve of, if you aren’t willing to provide a better solution.
Sitting here saying football shouldn’t exist because people get hurt is just lazy hand wringing & judgemental nonsense.
That’s absolutely not how the sport of jousting worked. You’re just making things up. It wasn’t gladiatorial combat. And even that resulted in death less often than is usually portrayed.
Well alright expert now I’m shitfaced & ready to learn. Do, please educate us all on aspects of jousting that did not lead to mortal combat.
By your logic, Football isn’t about hurting people any more than jousting is.
Sports are sports. They aren’t going away just because you think you’re better than their fandoms.
“It is tradition that athletes must be harmed for our entertainment.”
I’m not sure that people have moved on all that much from Roman gladiatorial combat.
Dumb people can’t play chess (well)
Football is for dumb people, got it
All that brain damage, proven by countless studies, does make a person dumb.
I don’t think you could really say they’re changing the nfl, I’m watching the game right now and I don’t think there’s a single one anywhere on either team. In fact other than maybe one or two players I don’t think I’ve seen anyone wearing them at all this year.
Get rid of the pads and helmets and play like the rugby.
Thought it was this guy:
Adding 12oz of weight to helmets is better than TBI but doesn’t feel like the best solution. I think a helmet redesign to incorporate those features would be better, like how MIPS helmets were introduced in other sports.
Will those ridges catch on a face guards rails? Looks like a shearing injury waiting to happen.
In the same vein, I’ve heard a lot of people suggest that the soft padding could slide less when contacting pretty much anything. So glancing helmet to helmet now contorts your neck (just a bit).
I suspect this will make players safer overall. But there’s going to be a really bad incident and they’ll ban them.
FTA:
The result was what the Hansons would later summarize in their United States patent request as a “protective helmet cap” with “a durable energy absorbing outer shell, which lessens the initial impact to the helmet … [and] an inner surface that allows the outer shell to slide over the surface of a helmet thereby reducing forces applied to a wearer.”
and
They also shelled out for additional outside testing to ensure that the caps wouldn’t affect neck torque and that they maintained a lower coefficient of friction relative to the usual football helmet’s polycarbonate shell, to ensure that crucial “sliding” effect.
So it looks like they’ve already though through that. Not saying it’s impossible that a bad incident will be blamed on the Guardian, but it looks like they’ve done the necessary research.
