You may have noticed some of the football players’ helmets in Warren County are a bit bigger than usual. Not only are additions being made to help prevent concussions by some local players, MTSU football players are sporting a new look this season with the addition of the Guardian Caps, a 7-ounce, soft-shell helmet cover that reduces the impact of hits by up to 33 percent.
 According to information distributed by MTSU, while no product can prevent a concussion, MTSU players are wearing the caps in practice for additional padding and to decrease the impacts from head-to-head collisions.
“I had a chance to look over the Guardian Cap on its website and the technology makes sense,” said Dr. Adam Breiner of The NeuroEdge Brain Performance Center which specializes in the treatment of neurological conditions. “I had previously learned that this type of newer soft-shell helmet was coming to market so I am excited to see teams are beginning to embrace it. The force of a hit can be reduced and dissipated by these helmets, which should provide more protection than the traditional helmet. However, parents and athletes shouldn’t feel this means they can’t get a concussions when wearing these helmets. They just help lessen the blow and hopefully mitigate some of the effects of lower impact repetitive head trauma.”
Currently, the Guardian Caps are worn by more than 50 college teams, including Clemson, Iowa State, Oregon State, Marshall, SMU and UMass, as well as more than 500 high school and youth teams.