It might look a little silly, but the Pittsburgh Steelers are using new equipment that could significantly reduce concussions.
A Guardian Cap is a flexible, padded cover that goes over the shell of a player's helmet. The NFL says if two players involved in a collision are wearing them, it reduces the impact's force by up to 25%.
Hundreds of college and high school teams are already using similar protective coverings to reduce concussions and other head injuries. However, the Guardian company has designed the caps worn by Steelers and other teams specifically to meet the demands of NFL players.
"[Guardian] added some additional padding, some denser padding that was better at energy absorption," said Jeff Crandall, chair of the NFL's engineering committee. "When we tested that, that's where we saw this significant reduction in impact severity."
While different teams have different policies, the league is mandating that all linemen, tight ends and linebackers wear the equipment as these players are most likely to suffer concussions. As of now, the caps must be worn in practices until* the second pre-season game.
"NFL teams only have about 14 contact practices throughout the course of the season. And so there's not a lot of contact that happens in practice once you get beyond that training camp period," said Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL's chief medical officer. "We're really trying to focus on the period where the greatest exposure is."
A Steelers spokesman said, due to scheduling, the team was unable to discuss the use of the cap.
