A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
When the NFL regular season begins tonight, fans will see something new. Some players plan to wear what looks like an extra-large football helmet known as the Guardian Cap. For years, athletes have worn the padded helmet covers during practice to protect against concussions. And this season, for the first time, the NFL will allow them in games. Here's NPR's Becky Sullivan.
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: The cap looks like egg crate padding lined with neoprene. It straps right onto a normal football helmet.
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KYLEN GRANSON: All it is is essentially a little extra padding on the exterior of the helmet.
SULLIVAN: Indianapolis Colts tight end Kylen Granson posted a video to his Instagram, showing off his blue Guardian Cap. There have been plenty of jokes about the caps, but Granson said he doesn't care about how they look.
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GRANSON: They don't really limit vision. They don't add any extra weight that's noticeable. Why would I not add a safety measure onto my helmet?
SULLIVAN: Over the past few seasons, the NFL has required more players to wear them during practice.
JEFF MILLER: During preseason practices the last two years, we've seen about a 50% reduction in concussion among the players' position groups that wore the Guardian Cap.
SULLIVAN: Jeff Miller is an NFL executive who's overseeing the league's health and safety initiatives. Although players can now wear them in games, only a handful chose to do so during the preseason. One reason, the NFL says, is the development of newer helmets. When Guardian Caps were introduced a few years ago, they were the best protection the NFL could offer then. Miller says new helmets now use some of the same technology as the caps.
MILLER: There's no question among the engineers that there's a decreasing benefit because the materials are so similar. The countervailing effect that you have to consider is when you put the Guardian Cap on a helmet, you're adding about a half a pound.
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UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR: And the ball is taken down to the 20-yard line - this time, Jonathan Taylor.
SULLIVAN: The highest-profile player to wear a Guardian Cap in the preseason was Jonathan Taylor, a running back for the Colts. His Guardian Cap was printed to look like a Colts helmet. In the third quarter, the Amazon Prime broadcast crew asked him about it.
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JONATHAN TAYLOR: We wear them all the time in practice, but it's a different environment in a game. So the only way to test it besides, you know, game one, which makes the most sense, is to test it during the preseason because it's a little different than in practice, you know, now when you're getting tackled in game.
SULLIVAN: Taylor hasn't committed to wearing one this Sunday, but two of his Colts teammates say they will, including Granson.
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GRANSON: I'm going to get married this coming year. I want to be able to remember our first dance 30 years from now. I want to be able to remember my first kid's steps.
SULLIVAN: Granson is happy to lead by example. At one point, he said, people thought seat belts were stupid, too.
Becky Sullivan, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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