‘No-brainer’: Colts’ Kylen Granson to wear Guardian Cap during regular season

INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis Colts tight end Kylen Granson wore a Guardian Cap over his helmet during the preseason and plans to continue doing so in the regular season to further protect his brain from long-term damage.

“At one point people thought seat belts were stupid,” Granson said The Athletics on Thursday. “Why shouldn’t I (wear it)? Just because it looks weird? I think health and safety are more important than aesthetics.”

After Granson’s comments went viral, the four-year pro explained his stance even further in an Instagram video on Friday. Granson and hundreds of other NFL players began wearing Guardian Caps, essentially soft pads attached to their helmets, when the NFL required certain position groups to wear them in practice ahead of the 2022 season.

He’s liked the results so far, and now that the league is allowing players to wear them during games, Granson feels it’s a no-brainer for him to further protect his brain.

“There is no amount of aesthetics that can outweigh what a TBI (traumatic brain injury) could do to you,” Granson said via Instagram. “And one of the more unknown things is that you don’t just have to worry about the big hits, but it’s also the culmination of a lot of little hits.”

He compared a person’s brain to Jell-O, explaining that every time a football player takes a hit and his brain shakes like Jell-O, it may not seem like much at the moment, but it could have a terrible or even fatal impact later. can have an effect. Granson also noted that hundreds of these little concussions can occur during offseason OTAs and training camps, a three-game preseason, a 17-game regular season, and even more games if a team reaches the playoffs.

Granson, 26, suffered a concussion in a Week 6 game with the Jacksonville Jaguars last year and was sidelined for the next two games.

However, Granson said he would still wear a Guardian Cap even if he had not suffered a concussion. The tragic stories of Pro Football Hall of Famer Junior Seau and former New England Patriots tight end and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez, both of whom died by suicide and were later diagnosed with CTE, serve as sobering reminders for Granson.

“I want to live forever,” Granson said The Athleticspartly a joke. “I don’t want anyone digging me up after I’m gone and checking my brain.”

Granson elaborated further on Instagram, saying he wants to be able to remember the first dance at his upcoming wedding “in 30 years” and the first steps of his future child. But beyond his own wishes, he believes it is his responsibility to set an example for the millions of kids who look up to NFL players.

“I want to inspire kids to think that health and safety are cool too,” Granson said on Instagram. “You can do cool things on the football field and still wear a Guardian Cap. I want my (future) children to wear a helmet when they cycle. …Because there is no amount of cool that would be worth walking into a hospital room and finding your child in a vegetative state because he or she wasn’t wearing a helmet. Because they didn’t want to look stupid.”

According to the NFL, since 2022, Guardian Caps have resulted in a 50 percent decrease in concussions among players who have worn them in practice.

Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president, told ESPN earlier this year, in addition to Guardian Caps, there are “new helmets this year that provide as much – if not more – protection than any other helmet model combined with a Guardian Cap.”

Ultimately, it’s still the player’s choice, and it certainly makes for a hot topic in NFL locker rooms. Some Colts players, who are in favor of Granson wearing a Guardian Cap, are strongly against wearing one themselves because of how it looks. Granson is one of at least two Indianapolis players who will wear the extra headgear regardless, as safety Rodney Thomas II said The Athletics he plans to wear a Guardian Cap during the regular season as well.

Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is perhaps the most prominent NFL player to wear a Guardian Cap during the preseason, although he was non-committal about wearing it in the regular season.

Granson said via Instagram that he loves football with all his heart, but it is not worth risking his life or that of his family for fear of being ridiculed or seen as soft .

“It’s bigger than me. It’s bigger than just looking cool,” Granson said. “And if I can do the same things on the field and be safe at the same time, why wouldn’t I want to? Why wouldn’t you want that as a fan? Some of your best players could play longer and protect their health.”

Required reading

(Photo: Jeff Moreland/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)