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(Nexstar) – The wide receiver of Green Bay Romeo Doubs Packers carries one. The same goes for the offensive platform of Tampa Bay Buccaneers Luke Goedeke. Security Taylor Rapp of Buffalo Bills and Jabrill Peppers of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Los Angeles Rams Offensive Lismen Kevin Dotson and Alaric Jackson, and a handful of other players also worn.
They are more common during the training camp, of course, but the padded helmets gained popularity during the regular NFL season.
The additional padding that makes the helmets almost comically larger is known as a caretaker cap. Made by Guardian, the cap is intended to serve as a “sweet shell barrier” between the head and the impact of the player.
The data published previously of the NFL showed that the cap can absorb at least 10% of the force during a blow to the helmet. If the two involved players wear goalkeeper traffic jams, this doubles at 20%.
Since 2022, the NFL has required goalkeeper traffic jams, which weigh only a few ounces, to be worn by certain players during training. During the 2023 training camp, brain concussion reached a seven -year -old hollow, the NFL said.
Last season was the first in which the players were allowed to wear the Guardian ceilings during the matches. This decision seemed to be beneficial.
The NFL has cited the “greatest improvement in the safety of helmets carried on the ground since 2021” (as well as the new launch rules) as a factor contributing to the historically low number of concussion reported during the 2024 season.
Miami Dolphins’ offensive line player, James Daniels, formerly Pittsburgh Steelers, seemed to be the first to put on a Guardian cap in a regular season match in 2024. Daniels, during the 2022 season, continued to bring additional padding to the training camp, even after the league did not have to
He said last year that his head did not hurt after wearing the cap and that he hoped that “more and more people were starting to wear them”.
Although the padding of the helmet did not storm the league, it seems that more players have chosen to wear the ceilings.
Slideshow: NFL players with Guardian caps
The Green Bayo Doubs Green Bayo Doubs (87) Large Packers (87) with the NFL football match against the Lions of Detroit, Sunday September 7, 2025, in Green Bay, Wisconsin (AP photo / Jeffrey Phelps Pittsburgh Steelers Jabrill Peppers Uses during the warm -up before the NFL football match between the Vikings of Minnesota and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, Sunday, September 28, 2025. (AP Photo / Ian Walton) Tampa Bay Buccaneers Luke Goedeke’s offensive platform (67) aligns in the first half of an NFL football match against Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, September 7, 2025, in Atlanta. (Photo / danny karnik) Atlanta Falcons secondary, JD Bertrand moves on the field during the second half of an NFL football match against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, September 14, 2025 in Minneapolis. Atlanta won 22-6. (Photo / stacy bengs) The Los Angeles Rams offensive platform, Alaric Jackson (77), takes his position in an NFL football match against Houston Texans, Sunday, September 7, 2025, in Inglewood, California (AP Photo / Kyusung Gong) Los Angeles goalkeeper Rams Kevin Dotson (69) plays against Tennessee’s Titans in a NFL football match on Sunday, September 14, 2025 in Nashville, Tenn. (AP photo / John friends) The New York Running Back Bertce Hall (20) jets are discussed by Buffalo Bills Safety Taylor Rapp (9) in the second quarter of an NFL football match on Sunday September 14, 2025, at East Rutherford, NJ (AP Photo / Yuki Iwamura)
In addition to Daniels, the NFL players who have chosen to wear a Guardian cap this season include: Dotson, Doubs, Goedeke, Rapp, Peppers and the Seconds of the Falcons of Atlanta JD Bertrand. In total, Guardian reports that 11 NFL players wore his padded helmet cap this year, with others, including Jackson, the receiver of the Packers Savion Williams and the offensive line of the Dolphins Cole Strange.
Others, however, seem to have lost the ceiling, at least from the fourth week of the season. This includes the tight winger of the Philadelphia Eagles, Kylen Granson, the security of invoices Damar Hamlin, the defensive winger Jaguars Josh Hines-Alline, the Dolphins Running de’Von Achane, the offensive goalkeeper of the New York Giants Aaron Stinnie and the offensive platform of Indianapolis Bernhard Raimann.
Granson, previously colt, was among the noisiest defenders of the padded helmets last season, in part in part that if the special ceilings “may not be as pleasant aesthetics”, the health benefits would allow favorite players (fans) to play longer and play more safe. “
Instead, the tight end opted for additional padding in his helmet, his wife, Daisy Foko Granson, explained Tiktok, saying that “tested the same thing for safety (and) it is a little more elegant”.
The NFL has updated its helmet directives each year, identifying the helmet that has passed its laboratory tests and those who did not do so. The latter will either be listed as “not recommended”, or prohibited for use in the League.
Achane also exchanged his Guardian cap for a helmet with additional padding at the end of last season, despite a height of the old option.
Several NFL players have opted for helmets specially designed to protect their heads.
You saw them on tastes of the defensive line player of San Francisco 49ers Nick Bosa and the brought winger of the Ravens of Baltimore Charlie Kolar.
The defensive winger of San Francisco 49ers Nick Bosa (97) rushes in an NFL football match against the Cardinals of Arizona, Sunday September 21, 2025, in Santa Clara, California (AP Photo / Scot Tucker) Baltimore Ravens The brought winger Charlie Kolar looks during the pre-match warstlands before an NFL football match against the Detroit Lions, Monday, September 22, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP photo / terrance Williams)
When launched in 2021, the Vicis Zero2 trench was presented as the first specific helmet for the position and appointed one of the best inventions of 2021 by Time magazine. Intended for line editors, helmets almost seem to have an invoice or a beak on the top, increasing the helmet slightly on the mask.
Several models of Vicis Zero2 trench helmets obtained a high score in the last series of NFL tests.
You may also notice that some NFL players carrying an additional accessory intended to protect their brain during the head impacts: the Q collar.
This includes Kolar, Tony Pollard of Tennessee’s Titans, Drue tranquillates des Chiefs de Kansas City and the corner sauce of the New York Jets.
The Running Back Pollard (20) from Tennessee Titans leaves the field after losing against Houston’s Texans in an NFL football match on Sunday September 28, 2025 in Houston. (AP photo / David J. Phillip) New York Jets Cornerback Sauce Gardner (1) warms up before an NFL football match against the Buccaneers of Tampa Bay, Sunday September 21, 2025, in Tampa, Florida (AP photo / Peter Joneleit) The second Kansas City chiefs, Drue Trané (23) in an NFL football match against the New York Giants, Sunday September 21, 2025 at East Rutherford, NJ (AP Photo / Vera Nieuwenhuis)
The Q collar, according to the FDA, is compressed against the jugular veins of the carrier’s neck. This is intended to increase the volume of blood in the skull vessels to create “a tighter adjustment of the brain inside the skull”. This tighter adjustment can then reduce the “Slosh” movement. »»
While the FDA authorized the marketing product, the agency warned that the Q -passes should not be used by athletes with certain conditions. He also noted that necklaces cannot prevent concussions or serious head injuries.
