Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys Players Wearing Strange New Helmets at Training Camp

LB Leighton Vander Esch calls Guardian Cap ‘awkward’ but acknowledges importance of safety

Tom Fox, The Dallas Morning News

The Guardian Cap worn by the Cowboys and other players around the NFL in the opening days of training camp is designed for safety as teams hit their way into football shape.

Leighton Vander Esch cites an unintended consequence.

“It’s awkward,’’ the Cowboys linebacker said. “I can feel the weight in it. “I feel like it makes me a little bit more bobbleheady.’’

Biomechanical engineering experts who work with the league’s Players Association have collaborated with the company that manufactures the equipment. The cap, which differs from models used at the collegiate level, fits over the existing helmet and reduces the severity of impact up to 20 percent if both players involved in the collision are wearing the caps.

Click here to read more on the helmets from our partners at the Dallas Morning News.

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