I think finding equipment to limit injuries to players should be paramount! Football is a tough and rough game and injuries will always be a part of the game. But will the GUARDIAN CAPS actually help the player involved in a head collision to avoid a concussion over what the present helmet provides? The way I understand concussion, is the brain bounces around in the skull and gets bruised. How will extra padding on the head going to prevent this?
Using your helmet as a weapon is something that happens too much in our league and needs to be addressed.
Rugby has addressed this in a way that’s easy to judge in that the player must be trying to wrap up going into contact - arms out front. They have also changed how they judge shoulder contact with the head (a shoulder charge as they call it) in the same way and it is now “making force-able contact with the head”. There is mitigation included in decisions. Targeting the head as the first point of contact with no intent to wrap up or tackle is probably one of the other major causes of concussions.
Yup. Research is finding its not that whack on gameday that does all the damage. It’s all the little ones during the week that set you up for that big whack to be damaging.