The NFLannounced that in the 2024 season it recorded the fewest concussions since it began tracking the data in 2015, according to ESPN.
The total of 182 concussions during games and practices in both the preseason and regular season represented a 17% drop compared to 2023.
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The previous low for the same period was 187 concussions in 2022, not counting the 2020 season when Covid-19 protocols canceled the preseason.
The five-year average, excluding 2020, was 211.4 player concussions per season.
“We are very pleased with the concussion numbers, but we are not suggesting at all that the work is done,” said Dr. Allen Sills, chief medical officer of the NFL. “We still have a lot of work to do to continue to make the game safer and reduce not only concussions, but also preventable head impacts.”
The ‘Guardian Cap’ helped reduce concussions
Sills and Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president who oversees player health and safety, attributed the 2024 drop to a number of factors including helmet quality and the mandatory use of “Guardian Caps” for most players during training camp and regular season practices.
The concussion rate was reduced by 43% on the league’s newly designed kickoff, but there were the same total number of concussions on kickoffs in 2024 (eight) as in 2023 because the rule generated more returns.
According to Sills, 35% of all players improved their helmet quality in 2024 according to rankings published annually by the NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA).
Normally, Sills said, that rate is between 14% and 17%. In addition, approximately one-third of eligible players wore helmets specifically designed for their positions.
Meanwhile, the NFL began requiring the use of Guardian Caps in practice for players at certain positions in 2022 and expanded it to include all positions except quarterbacks and specialists in 2023.
The league had previously attributed a 50% reduction in concussions to players wearing them during those time periods.
Some helmet models performed well enough in NFL/NFLPA testing that players wearing them were exempt from Guardian Cap mandates.
“I think we can say with a high degree of confidence that the use of Guardian Caps, plus the optional Guardian Cap helmets, has certainly provided a sustained reduction in the amount of concussions that we’re seeing in that preseason practice environment,” Sills said.
About 20 players wore Guardian Caps during regular season games by choice, Miller said.
However, Sills said that number was too small to generate reliable data on whether they received any benefit.