USC Football Adopts “Guardian Cap” to Prevent Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussions in Players
The University of South Carolina football team has adopted a new type of helmet to help prevent traumatic brain injury.
The helmet – called the Guardian Cap – is designed to absorb most of the impact from a helmet-to-helmet collision. According to the Facebook page, the Guardian is a one-size-fits-all softshell helmet designed to fit around the outside of a regular football helmet. The extra cushioning helps reduce the force sustained by football players’ heads by up to 33%.
Although the manufacturer is clear both on their Facebook page and on their website that the cap cannot completely prevent traumatic brain injury, the cushioning could be the difference between a mild concussion and a life-changing brain injury.
Lee and Erin Hanson are the creators of the Guardian Cap, based in Atlanta, Georgia. In the last two years, the company has sold over 8,000 units to high schools and colleges, making football practices across the Southeast safer.
Now, USC has adopted the Guardian Cap to help prevent traumatic brain injury during football practice season.
“These players are getting hit in the head more than 1,000 times every football season,” said Lee Hanson, creator of the Guardian Cap. “We want to protect as many players as we can, this is more of a passion to protect players, if I could give these away I would.”
“We knew that the majority of concussions happen in practice and we felt that if we could take some of the impact off the accumulation of all those sub-concussive hits, we would be making a real difference,” said Erin.
USC is the first Division One school to adopt the Guardian Cap. Hopefully, more will follow suit as football practice ramps up.
Guardian Cap Grows in Popularity Amid A Swirl of Personal Injury Lawsuits Against the NFL for Traumatic Brain Injury
USC has become one of the first major football teams to adopt the Guardian Cap for football practice. This could be a reaction to serious allegations from former professional football players that the NFL did not do enough to protect them during their careers. Several former pro footballers now suffer terrible physical illness because of traumatic brain injury.
Last year, thousands of personal injury complaints against the NFL were merged into one litigation. The lawsuit contends that the NFL exploited its players by refusing to change guidelines, despite medical evidence that multiple concussions and other traumatic brain injuries (TBI) sustained repeatedly can lead to mental illness, dementia, and even death. In total, there are 3,356 plaintiffs, including players, spouses, and other relatives or representatives.
The Traumatic Brain Injury Attorneys at the Strom Law Firm
All kinds of accidents can cause traumatic brain injury. Some of the most common are automobile accidents, work accidents, or defective products. For many victims, traumatic brain injury is not immediately noticeable. According to statistics from the CDC, 1.7 million people suffer traumatic brain injury every year, and 52,000 of those sufferers die from complications.
If you or a loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury due to an automobile accident or a defective product, it is not too late to get help. The attorneys at the Strom Law Firm offer free consultations to discuss the incident that led to traumatic brain injury and determine if you have a personal injury case. Contact us today. 803.252.4800.
