Guardian Cap

Guardian Cap is a line of soft-shell pads that attach to and cover the outside of a gridiron football or ice hockey helmet. They have been used in football practices since 2015, with the National Football League (NFL) first mandating their use for some position groups since 2022. After expanding this mandate to further position groups in the following years, the NFL officially allowed for their use in live games in 2024. The equipment has also been used in the Canadian Football League (CFL), as well as in collegiate and youth levels of American football.

Players have been documented as initially hesitant of the equipment, or critical of its aesthetics, but ultimately recognized the equipment's role in player safety. NFL research has found Guardian Caps reduce impact force and diminish concussion rate, but independent research has not confirmed these findings. Independent studies have not found that the equipment provides substantial improvement in mitigating the effect of head impact.