Where are all the helmet pillows?

[Dan Darragh]

Last year I think we had one or two players, maybe Rapp?, who wore the helmet pillows (I guess they have some sort of official name but that's what they look like to me).

 

This year I don't think any Bills are using it and I'm surprised that it hasn't caught on around the league, considering what appears to be an obvious safety benefit.  OK, they look ridiculous, but probably face guards did too when they were new.

 

(Kinda reminds me of hockey back in the '60s when only one or two players wore helmets, and the Amerks had a goalie, Bobby Perrault, who didn't wear a mask or a helmet at all.  He's dead now.)

 

Anyway I'd love to have the wisdom of my fellow posters on this all-important topic.

[PromoTheRobot]

Other players around the league are using them.

[K-9]

[Don Otreply]

Brain pillows…

[NI Bills Fan]

Guardian caps I think they're called.  They're still in use this season around the league although other than Rapp I don't recall too many Bills ever wearing them.

 

Taron Johnson for a game or 2 last season maybe, if memory serves me correctly.

 

My son and I were shouting at the TV last week urging Tee Higgins to put one on!

Edited December 13, 2025 by NI Bills Fan

[BearNorth]

5 minutes ago, NI Bills Fan said:

Guardian caps I think they're called.  They're still in use this season around the league although other than Rapp I don't recall too many Bills ever wearing them.

Mark Kelso famously wore a padded helmet during the Super Bowl Years.  He was prone to concussions and the medical staff gave him a choice padded helmet or stop playing.

[PonyBoy]

Mark Kazoo Kelso....

 

[SoonerBillsFan]

The guy from the Texans who laid out the Chiefs WR last week had one

[NickelCity]

10 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

The guy from the Texans who laid out the Chiefs WR last week had one

 

What a hit

[MJS]

The guardian caps are optional for players to wear during the season. In preseason and practices the oline and dline are required to wear them, plus running backs and tight ends, I think.

 

Many players will wear them for awhile coming off a concussion. I think they should make it mandatory for a player to wear them for two or three weeks after they come back from a concussion, if not the entire rest of the season.

 

Players think they look dumb, so they don't like them.

[reddogblitz]

26 minutes ago, MJS said:

 

Players think they look dumb, so they don't like them.

 

They violate the most important thing in football, looking cool.

[BeyondTheProcess]

romeo doubs of the packers has one; good player;  looks like a 10 yr old bobble head doll with it on, but yes, a good player

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

America's pillow.

[BigAl2526]

I think this season the league introduced several new helmets for players that are supposed to offer better protection against head injury than the previous generation of helmets.  It may be that some players who formerly wore the helmet cushions felt the new helmets are sufficient protection, but the pillow tops are still an option.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

4 hours ago, K-9 said:

[The Frankish Reich]

5 hours ago, Dan Darragh said:

(Kinda reminds me of hockey back in the '60s when only one or two players wore helmets, and the Amerks had a goalie, Bobby Perrault, who didn't wear a mask or a helmet at all.  He's dead now.)

I can't even imagine a goalie without a mask. Crazy.

Helmets in hockey. Batting helmets in baseball. Ear flaps on baseball helmets. Neck guards on catcher's helmets. The full birdcage facemask (not just the single Johnny Unitas bar) in football. Hockey goalies with full helmet/faceguard and not just the Halloween mask. Visors in hockey.

Once you get used to it, you can't believe players ever played without it.

[US Egg]

Maybe they are, but should start making the youth leagues wear them, break the look stigma, as well as the obvious reason for them.

[BuffaloBillsGospel2014]

 

[BearNorth]

1 hour ago, The Frankish Reich said:

I can't even imagine a goalie without a mask. Crazy.

Helmets in hockey. Batting helmets in baseball. Ear flaps on baseball helmets. Neck guards on catcher's helmets. The full birdcage facemask (not just the single Johnny Unitas bar) in football. Hockey goalies with full helmet/faceguard and not just the Halloween mask. Visors in hockey.

Once you get used to it, you can't believe players ever played without it.

Ever seen some of the pictures of the old time Hockey Goalies, Gump Worsley, Jacques Plante, Terry Sawchuk [400 stitches to his face] before masks were mandatory.

Their faces look like jigsaw puzzles.

[Buffalo ill]

The players decided CTE isn't as bad as looking like a nerd.