Over the past couple years, research regarding sport related head injuries has begun to make football players, fans and coaches question the safety precautions taken by teams to provide maximum protection and minimize long term injuries for their players.

In response, the SMU football team has adopted a new form of headwear this spring called Guardian Caps.

Head-to-head contact is inevitable in football, and as a result the potential for head injuries threatens players. However, by implementing new technology like Guardian Caps, programs are able to maximize safety. The “caps” are a soft shell placed on the outside of the helmet and aim to reduce the magnitude of the impact by increasing “deflection and time extension during deflection,” according to the Guardian Caps website.

Although the long term effects on injury prevention with Guardian Caps are unknown, the integration of Guardian Caps into the SMU football team’s practices symbolizes a shift toward a safer, more innovative program.