NFL players' negative reviews of Guardian Caps miss the mark

While the creators attempted to make the Guardian Caps look as normal as possible, there's a clear difference between the extra protective gear and a regular helmet. However, nobody wants to see players suffer head injuries. If sporting a slightly unusual look on the field is a sacrifice for extra safety, many more should be taking advantage.

The most obvious instance of a big-time NFL name to suffer multiple concussions is Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa — who's currently recovering from his third since 2022 — but there are many more that don't get the constant headlines.

The NFL reported earlier this year, per Guardian’s website, that concussion rates for players who wore Guardian Caps are down 52% over the last three years compared to the ones who didn’t.

According to a report by Mike Jones of The Athletic, the league said that five to 10 players per week have chosen to wear Guardian Caps in games, but the majority of players prefer not to use the extra layer of protection. Per The Athletic's anonymous player poll — where beat writers asked 110 players about "a wide range of topics, 65 of the 109 players who responded to this question oppose the idea of wearing Guardian Caps in games." The poll also showed that 31 players "gave Guardian Caps in games a thumbs up in general, even if they aren’t necessarily wearing one, and the remaining 13 are undecided."

According to Jones' report, the poll showed that most anti-Guardian Cap respondents weren't fans of the extra weight they added to their heads.

“Thumbs down,” one player said, per the report. “Because I think, to me, it adds unnecessary weight to be hauling around the whole game.”

“Thumbs down, for sure. It’s not the most comfortable thing. Plus, if you’re on the interior, I feel like they’d come off or unclip very easily," another said.

The response that could perhaps draw the most criticism from Guardian Cap proponents, though, is one that stresses that they didn't like how the padding looked.

“Thumbs down for me personally. I’m never gonna wear that,” he said, per the report. "And it’s literally just because of the fashion part. It does a good job of protecting your head, but I’m not wearing it.”

As Jones noted, the NFL added another option this season, issuing six new helmet models "believed to provide improved protection from concussions." Per the report, Tagovailoa was wearing one of the new helmet designs when he suffered his most recent concussion in Week 2.

Others in favor of the Guardian Caps explained their reasoning for taking the cautious approach.

“Thumbs up,” one said, according to the poll. “While they might not look the sleekest, at the end of the day, you can’t really be too mad at guys for protecting themselves and their bodies, especially if they have families to come back to.”

 “You’re ignorant if you say thumbs down,” another said. “It’s at each player’s discretion, and CTE is terrifying.”