{
  "id": 15387946,
  "title": "What’s with those bobblehead NFL helmets?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/whats-with-those-bobblehead-nfl-helmets",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-18T09:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91623293/whats-with-those-bobblehead-nfl-helmets"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "As the NFL season unfolds, a noticeable trend among several players is the presence of large, padded covers on their helmets. Chris Olave, a wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints, dons a Guardian Cap, a protective gear that adds cushioning to his helmet and alters his appearance. Olave, who has suffered four concussions in his first three seasons, has accepted the trade-off of looking a bit like a Super Mario character. \"Shoot, I got kids now,\" he remarked after his team's opening game, emphasizing the importance of living a normal life post-retirement.\n\nThe NFL has been grappling with concussion rates for the past decade, with some progress but also setbacks. While in-game concussions dropped by 15% in 2024, they surged by 30% in 2025, particularly on kickoffs. Since 2022, the Guardian Cap has become a mandatory safety measure during practice, with players voluntarily wearing it in games since 2024. The cap, made by Guardian Sports in Georgia, is a lightweight foam shell that attaches to any standard helmet, compressing upon impact and absorbing force before reaching the helmet's hard shell.\n\nThere are two versions of the Guardian Cap, with the NXT weighing around 12 ounces for NFL and select college players, and the XT, a lighter option at about half a pound, available for youth and high school players. Over half a million athletes across all levels wear the cap. The NFL allowed the cap in practice in 2020, mandated its use for linemen, tight ends, and linebackers in 2022, and by 2024, all players except quarterbacks, kickers, and punters were required to wear it during contact practices, with the option to wear it in games.\n\nPlayers have mixed reactions to the cap. Some find it cumbersome and unappealing, with J.J. Watt describing it as a bobblehead and Jason Kelce joking about bubble wrap around his cap. However, the design has recently undergone a cosmetic upgrade, known as the NXT 2.0, featuring a smooth surface and direct application of stick-on team decals, enhancing player aesthetics.",
  "summary": "If you’ve been watching the NFL this season, you’ve probably noticed that a few dozen players have pretty big heads. Not in the diva sense, but literally. Take Chris Olave, the New Orleans Saints wide receiver. He wears a Guardian Cap, a padded cover on his helmet for added protection against head trauma. The trade-off is that it makes him look like he just nabbed a mushroom power-up in Super…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}