Even the makers of the Guardian Cap admit it looks silly. But for a sport facing an existential brain-injury crisis, once unthinkable solutions have now become almost normal.

Late in his team’s game against the Green Bay Packers on September 15, Indianapolis Colts tight end Kylen Granson caught a short pass over the middle of the field, charged forward, and lowered his body to brace for contact. The side of his helmet smacked the face mask of linebacker Quay Walker, and the back of it whacked the ground as Walker wrestled him down. Rising to his feet after the 9-yard gain, Granson tossed the football to an official and returned to the line of scrimmage for the next snap.

Aside from it being his first reception of the 2024 National Football League season, this otherwise ordinary play was only noteworthy because of what Granson was wearing at the time of the hit: a 12-ounce, foam-padded, protective helmet covering called a Guardian Cap.

Already mandatory for most positions at all NFL preseason practices, as well as regular-season and postseason practices with contact, these soft shells received another vote of confidence this year when the league greenlit them for optional game use, citing a roughly 50 percent drop in training camp concussions since their official 2022 debut. Through six weeks of action this fall, only 10 NFL players had actually taken the field with one on, according to a league spokesperson. But the decision was easy for Granson, who tried out his gameday Guardian Cap—itself covered by a 1-ounce pinnie with the Colts logo to simulate the design of the helmet underneath—in preseason games before committing to wear it for real.

  • Flying Squid
    1•1 month ago

    Me saying that jousting led to beheadings is not a lie.

    That’s not what you said.

    This is what you said:

    No. They got off their horses & aimed to behead, or otherwise cease the existence of, their opponent.

    Which they didn’t.

    Then you said:

    Do, please educate us all on aspects of jousting that did not lead to mortal combat.

    Which, again, I did. I showed you all the ways to win a joust, none of which involved mortal combat. You won’t even acknowledge that you were simply wrong. Some nonsense about digging up Henry VIII won’t make you any less wrong that jousting was not about mortal combat.

    I mean it would be pretty fucking stupid to kill your own knights, or did that not occur to you?

    Ok, ok, ok, fine. I’ll admit it. You’ve win this argument. No more football, baseball, basketball, or soccer. Sharpen the hockey sticks, get out the mace, & gas up the fuckin horses.

    Now you’re lying about what I’m talking about. Do you just lie all the time?

    • HonkyTonkWoman
      1•1 month ago

      What’s with you calling everyone liars? I’m not lying, maybe misinformed on jousting, but you calling me a liar is lying.

      I fact, didn’t you report me a whole bunch of times for calling you Richard?

      Maybe you should check you civility & stop with the name calling, Richard.

      You don’t like football. Am I lying?

      You think football is bad dangerous. Am I lying?

      You argued football was more dangerous than jousting. Am I lying?

      You judge people you disagree with, bait them into arguments in the comment threads, & report them when they react negatively.

      AM I STILL LYING?

      Nope. I am 100% not lying about any of those statements.

      But you’ll refute them nonetheless, because you’re a liar.

          • Flying Squid
            0•1 month ago

            I’m curious if you have sobered up and realized how much you embarrassed yourself last night.

            I’m guessing you have and you haven’t.

            • HonkyTonkWoman
              2•1 month ago

              Not embarrassed in the least. I’m not the one calling for dissolution of an industry I disapprove of.

              Have you gotten off your high horse & stopped passing judgement on strangers who disagree with you?

              Tequila & toothpaste time!!! Happy Monday.

              • Flying Squid
                0•1 month ago

                I’m not the one calling for dissolution of an industry I disapprove of.

                Cool. Neither am I.

                I just suggested maybe it wasn’t a good idea anymore and pointed to similar bad idea sports we stopped doing because they’re dangerous and stupid.

                Maybe you didn’t notice that what with your telling an absolute whopper about jousting, doubling down on it, and then getting angry when you were shown that you were 100% in the wrong.

                And you’re still 100% in the wrong, by the way.

                Also, if you were serious about drinking tequila first thing in the morning, you have a serious addiction problem and I sincerely hope you get the help you need.

                • HonkyTonkWoman
                  2•1 month ago

                  Never got angry about any of this, you sure do like reading other people’s intentions incorrectly.

                  And yes, you joined a thread talking about the efficacy of additional protection of football players & suggested that rather than embracing that protection as a step in the right direction, the sport just should just cease to exist.

                  Ergo… You’re calling for dissolution of multi billion dollar industry because you don’t like it.

                  And and… I’m not wrong about jousting. Jousting was blood sport plain & simple. No one ever tried to make jousting a safer sport. Not for the humans & not for the horses.

                  Now, let’s just get this next part over with quickly…

                  Please go ahead and call me a liar again so you can embrace smug sense of superiority & go on about your day.

                  • Flying Squid
                    0•1 month ago

                    I’m very sorry, I had no idea I was talking to someone with a substance abuse problem so badly that it would impair their basic judgment.

                    Again, I sincerely hope you get the help you need.