Bark River Harris varsity football recorded zero concussions during the 2024 season, the first season in which players wore Guardian caps on their helmets. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)
HARRIS — Football is a constantly evolving sport.
The powerful power sweeps once executed by Vince Lombardi’s legendary Green Bay Packers teams have been replaced by playing action roll-out passes to offensive linemen, spreading the offense, and emphasizing aerial attacks. .
But how has the equipment changed?
Hundreds of thousands of football players across the country are choosing to try new technology in hopes of limiting brain damage. This is new equipment known as the “Guardian Cap” and will be worn by all players in the Bark River Harris football program in 2024.
So what is the Guardian Cap and are there any differences?
The Guardian Cap was created by Guardian Sports, based in Corners, Georgia. According to the company’s website, the cap was invented in 2010 in response to a distinct need to evolve the standard helmet, which has remained largely unchanged since the 1960s. Erin and Lee Hanson, owners of The Hanson Group LLC, used more than 20 years of experience in the materials science business to design, patent, and manufacture the Guardian Cap. The cap itself acts like a car airbag. Similar to NASCAR drivers and soft wall technology, impacts to the head from other helmets, the ground, or body parts are absorbed by the cap, reducing impact.
The Guardian Cap won the 2017 NFL HeadHealthTECH Challenge and was distributed to NFL teams in 2020. After one year of data collection and lab testing, the results are “Statistically significant” The NFL allowed the use of Guardian caps for the 2021 season due to the improvements seen over helmets alone. In early 2022, NFL owners announced that the league would require all offensive linemen, defensive linemen, tight ends, and linebackers to use Guardian caps early in training camp. In 2023, the NFL expanded the Guardian Cap mandate to all preseason, regular season and postseason contact practices and added all ball carriers to the list of mandated positions. For the 2024 season, the NFL has once again expanded its mandate by adding receivers and defensive backs to the list of positions required to wear Guardian caps. As of this season, NFL players can wear Guardian caps during games if they wish.
Then there’s Bark River Harris, a Division 8 football team with 228 students. The Broncos finished 5-4 and reached the postseason for the eighth time in 11 seasons. First-year head coach Caleb Adams saw the technology and made it part of his program, regardless of what his players thought.
“I gave them a ride.” Adam spoke about the decision to use the Guardian Cap in 2024. “Anything to protect the health of our players, that’s what we want to do.”
Adams said he bought 60 Guardian caps for about $3,500 before the season started. He also said the junior varsity program reported two diagnosed concussions in 2024, while the varsity program reported zero concussions.
“When you play 11-a-side football at a school our size, you need all the kids.” Adams said. “We can’t lose our kids to concussions. They’re dangerous. It was a move of God.”
Senior offensive lineman Lucas Hall has no problem wearing the cap.
“They don’t look the best, but for someone like me who likes to use my brain more than I should, I’ve grown to like them more and more.” Hall said. There is a difference in weight, but you won’t notice it after a week of wearing it.
Senior running back Christian Spear also shared Hall’s thoughts, noting that no one made fun of the helmet look during the season.
“We noticed the difference as soon as we put them on. It keeps us cool.” Spear said. “When you actually put it on, the weight doesn’t really change. Half the time we forget it’s there. For example, when we come back from watching a movie and it’s on our head… When I see them, I think, “Oh, that’s what I’m wearing.”
