In-game Guardian Caps highlight 2024 health & safety measures

TORONTO — The Canadian Football League will introduce several new initiatives and enhance existing practices in a continued effort to support the health and safety of its players in 2024.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.cfl.ca/2024/05/15/in-game-guardian-caps-highlight-2024-health-safety-measures
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I am glad to see the league taking player’s saftey to heart. I particularly like to see that it will be a penalty to not have your mouth guard in. I know it can be difficult to talk and communicate with a mouthguard in and this was a problem, so some QBs did not wear them. I am glad they are now compelled to. I also like that players are allowed to wear the Guardian helmet covers in games if they want to. I do hope that they are coloured to match the helmets and logos though (no effect on safety but just my OCD preference).

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we should take tackling out of football too? and put padding down on the field ? we could use a nurf football to? its getting stupid when you have to put padding outside of your padding.

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I know this is off topic. I will do penance. But guardian caps, which were required during “full-gear” practices in training camp, were optional during games. The optional part is a bad idea, as macho players will refuse to wear one, or mock those who do. I am old enough to remember face-masks for goalies…took a long time to become mandatory.

Why would anyone dis anything that would contribute to player safety? Several decades ago I played hockey and football. The first year that hockey helmets became mandatory, I chafed at the idea…and 3 or 4 games into that season, my helmet probably saved my life or, at least, precluded a broken neck.
Furthermore, if you have never been hit with a football helmet, please don’t mock. They cause pain, but worse yet, they break body parts, like bones, that weren’t designed to take that kind of blunt force trauma. And if the helmet is being hit, if follows that a brain is underneath that helmet…perhaps one that is not used to it’s full capacity by those who don’t think it is worth protecting to the full extent possible.

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CTE …is not an acronym for Cheese, Tacos, Enchiladas!

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where dose it end ? lets just ban all contact sports ! because people are to fradgile ? if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen?

does…fragile…let’s…too. perhaps you played too many times without proper head gear.
Why do you shout fragile? Our bodies, brains, and skeletal structures were not designed to absorb repeated trauma. If you knew anything at all about concussions, for example, you would appreciate those limitations. The brain is surrounded by fluid designed to mitigate severe shaking. When the impact is too great, the brain slams against the skull, in spite of the “fluid cushion.” This results in a concussion. A concussion is, in effect, a stop sign. As in stop the punishment, take a rest, and let the brain recover. Only a complete fool would suggest that all effort to protect body and mind should be abandoned just to entertain you. Perhaps you are not far removed from the blood-lust “entertainment” provided by the gladiatorial fights to the death in the Roman coliseum. I mean, after all, it was just entertainment…who cares about lives being lost?
Football players have relatively short careers. They have loved ones, families, who need them to be "whole’ after their playing days. As an eye-opener, try talking to retired players, especially linemen, who live with all kinds of debilitating injuries sustained for the sake of your entertainment. Sure, some look fondly on their playing days. Equally, many, in their senior years, are paying the price, with regrets. Why do you think so many players do not encourage their progeny to play the game? Inform yourself!

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I’m sure they’ll figure out a way to incorporate different designs and colours. I’m looking forward to seeing what they look like.

How about big funny clown shoes and those Sumo bubble wrap suits too while you’re at it?

Guardian caps should be mandatory for QBs that complain the league doesn’t do enough to protect them… Collaros, I’m looing at you. The rules are there to give you an avenue to protect yourself. If you don’t know how/when to do a proper hook-slide or throw it away,… that’s on you. Giving a team 15 yards and a 1st down just because a defenders’ pinky rubbed a QB’s helmet, only puts value on a QB getting his head in the way, and gives QBs a reason to be reckless when it’s second and long. It seems to me, the safest way to protect that QB is to get him off the field, not give him an unearned 1st down.

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You’re welcome.
42% decrease in training camp concussions? And somekind clowns scoff at this?
Well smack me upside with a football helmet and call me stupid… no really I dare you.

You can credit a Saskatchewan Roughriders fan of Ukrainian decent, who resides in Saskatchewan. :grinning: I’ll add that in for the haters that will need something to hate.

42%… that’s something worth thinking about for those who still can.

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People used to scoff at seatbelts in cars, too, at one time. Now no one gives seatbelts a second thought.

I’m happy for anything that makes players safer. Football is a brutal sport.

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didn’t see anyone wearing a guardian cap today. Unfortunate.

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okay, so we are 4 regular season games into the season. I have not noticed a single player from any team wearing the guardian helmet in game action. I suspect they add weight and hinder head movements very slightly. Players want every advantage they can get.
What I have also noticed (and I have been looking for it specifically) is that quite a number of players are not using their mouth guards. Some don’t have them and some are just leaving them dangle from their helmets. (I do know that some are not tethered and some others will be hard to see). I did notice at least one player with 2 attached to his helmet. Anyway, I thought this was mandatory and should draw a penalty if not used. Why is this not being enforced if it is a safety concern of the league. Do they care or are they just paying lip service? Mouthguards are proven to reduce concussions so players should want to wear them. Interestingly, the players I noticed most prominently not using them were QBs and RBs.

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I’m glad you caught this too. I wonder what his reasoning was for that.

I will have to go back and see if any kickers/punters were wearing mouthguards :eyes: