Helmet covers - what is the purpose?

[mlh]

Why do some of the players have what looks like pads on their helmets and what purpose do they serve?

 

[Padreruf]

Cushion against concussions...may help but the brain rattles around inside the skull like an egg inside a shell. I heard an explanation that you could put an egg inside a bucket filled with concrete and that if you dropped it the egg yolk, etc., would still vibrate -- much as a brain does inside the skull.

 

[gtgilbert]

Why do some of the players have what looks like pads on their helmets and what purpose do they serve?

Guardian Caps | Guardian Sports

Guardian Caps are the leading soft shell helmet cover engineered for impact reduction. Worn by the NFL, 500+ colleges and 5000+ high schools.

guardiansports.com

Additional layer of protection. They have a lot of research from a few of the leading sports technology safety institutes and universities that claim the soft pads reduce the amount / degree of impact passed through to the more interior layers.

Company is based here in GA and they do a lot of other sports tech stuff as well based in material science. Better chin straps (on the way), better turf infil for artificial turf, lacrosse balls that don't lose their grip over time, etc

 

[mlh]

I figured it was a safety measure of some kind, just didn't know what exactly. Thanks.

 

[BamaMoon]

I suspect in time they will become standard use. I think they look silly and that's probably why many players won't wear them.

Tua refuses to, but needs to.

 

[uafan4life]

Cushion against concussions...may help but the brain rattles around inside the skull like an egg inside a shell. I heard an explanation that you could put an egg inside a bucket filled with concrete and that if you dropped it the egg yolk, etc., would still vibrate -- much as a brain does inside the skull.

That's a terrible analogy.

It's about lessening the transfer of kinetic energy.

A better analogy would be wrapping an egg in bubble wrap and dropping it. The chance of the yolk breaking is lessened compared to without the bubble wrap...