PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga. (WVLT) – In 2012, Guardian Sports set out to work in collaboration with a helmet company to improve helmet technology on the market, but after rounds and rounds of trying, the task turned to be more difficult that originally planned.

That’s when founder and owner Erin Hanson and her team pivoted to create what are known today as Guardian Caps.

“We said ‘Well shoot, instead of creating a brand new helmet, let’s retrofit what’s already out there’,” said Hanson from Guardian’s Peachtree Corners headquarters just northeast of Atlanta.

A Guardian Cap is a piece of material that is designed to sit on top of a traditional hard shell athletic helmet with the sole purpose of creating another player that could limit the amount of force exerted on the head.

“It’s literally just a soft shell cover. It literally is just a pad that sits on top of the helmet, and it’s deceptively simple,” said Hanson.

Guardian Caps are made of closed cell Polyurethane foam and weigh less than seven ounces.

“They forget that it’s there, but what they’re realizing is they’re not hearing that loud crack,” said Hanson.

First mandated for use in practices by the NFL for certain position groups in 2022, the NFL then doubled on its commitment to Guardian and the technology and required them to be worn by every position group in practice except punters, kicker, and quarterbacks in 2024.

“We started with the college programs. South Carolina was the first to take a chance on us, but it has really just filtered down. It’s incredible to see where we’ve come from the beginning,” said Hanson.

Guardian’s athlete list had ballooned to more 500,000 around the world.

The National Football League and the Canadian Football League are two groups to buy into the science behind Guardian Caps.

“When the NFL tested our products back in 2022, they showed that when one athlete is wearing a Guardian Cap against another athlete that’s not wearing a Guardian Cap, there’s at least a 10% impact reduction. When both athletes are wearing a Guardian Cap, that reduction doubles up to 20%,” Guardian Sports National Sales Manager Mike Finney said.

The NFL is expected to return a new study this fall that is said to show the use of Guardian Caps had reduced NFL concussions by more than 50% and CFL concussions by more than 40%.

“These guys are taking thousands of impacts per season, depending on what position they play, and it’s very important to us that we try to reduce as much impact as possible they receive,” said Finney.

The University of Tennessee is one of the college programs that has used Guardian Caps in practice.

WVLT requested UT to be a part of the story, but the athletic department declined the opportunity.

A spokesperson for UT told WVLT News the football team had used Guardian Caps since spring of 2019.

The NCAA told WVLT News Guardian Caps are permitted to be worn in games during the 2024 season, as long as the hard shell helmet underneath is certified and the penne over the cap matches the helmets worn on the field.

Guardian Sports officials said they are not working to replace the helmet, to the opposite they cannot exist without the hard shell, but the company still receives pushback from some helmet suppliers.

“They see us as a competitor for budget dollars,” said Hanson.

For Guardian, now it’s about getting athletes to see past the look of the piece of equipment and understand studies are beginning to support the use.

“Like you asked, ‘How do they feel about wearing a cap?’ I think there’s resistance at first, it looks funny, it’s different, ‘Do I want to put that on my helmet?’, and what they found out is they forget it’s there,” said Hanson. “It’s so lightweight; it’s seven ounces. It weighs like a Kleenex box. They forget that it’s there, but they realize they’re not hearing that loud crack.”

A single Guardian Cap costs around $60, but if sold in bulk, that can dip to nearly $53.

Hanson told WVLT News Guardian Caps last multiple seasons, and when it’s divided out among those seasons, the cost is only $10.

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