In an effort to reduce concussive and sub-concussive impacts in practice, the Texas Longhorns are now requiring offensive linemen, defensive linemen, and linebackers to wear a protective padding sleeve on the outside of helmets:
“A lot of the big guys’ concussion come from repetitive blows,” Herman said on Friday after Texas opened preseason camp. “Obviously they’re not high-impact, high-speed blows to the head. But it’s a repetitive thing. So more and more schools are going to those pads in practice just to soften some of those repetitive blows.”
The padded caps look like those provided by Guardian, which are supposed to reduce the force of impact by as much as 33 percent, according to the supplier.