VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTKR)- Floyd Kellam head coach Brian Neas remembers how concussions were handled during his playing days.
"We'd get them and you'd go right back in...and you can tell," Neas chuckled. "We want to give these kids every advantage that they can have to be as safe and have as much fun as they can playing."
With that in mind, Neas has a new requirement this season. Each one of his players must wear a Guardian Cap during every practice and every game. The cap is an extra layer of padding that attaches over the top of the helmet. All the Knights were excited to comply.
Well, maybe not right away...
"Man, these things look goofy man," smiled junior athlete Aaron Smith. "They look so bad."
"First reaction, I didn't want to too much," junior offensive lineman Max Galbraith. "It doesn't look good."
They even looked for ways to get out of the new policy, with some admitting they still ask for a reprieve.
"If we sign a petition, or if we take a team vote or something like that," Smith said of some proposals.
"'If I catch 10 balls for 250 yards this week and three touchdowns, can I take it off next week?,'" Neas recalled of some players' requests. "'Coach, if we win this game, can we take them off next week?'"
The answer is always the same: not a chance. Thanks to a generous donation from the Kellam Hall of Fame, the Knights added 100 brand new Guardian Caps to their inventory. The head coach did not waste any time putting them to good use.
"Part of my job is not only to coach football, but it's to try and keep our kids as safe as I possibly can," Neas pointed out.
"He's trying to keep us safe for the long term and not just because we want to look good without wearing them," admitted Smith. "Once I learned that it was like 'alright, I guess we've got to wear them.'"
The team has noticed a difference. While no piece of equipment will eliminate concussions altogether, studies show that the caps can reduce concussions by around 50 percent. That helps to keep the players healthy during the short and long term.
"Especially for my position, I feel like that collision right there, it's going to help a lot with long-term health," noted Galbraith.
"These Guardian Caps, from the day-to-day, the repeated blows, the small blows, the blows from falling on the ground, this extra protection has kept our kids in the game," said Neas.
This group of Knights has added armor to prepare them better for battle. As for their coach, he hopes his army inspires others to get on board and do the same.
"I think, honestly, it was a great investment, even though I don't like wearing them," Smith said. "I think it was very smart to do, especially to keep us safe."
"If I can convince another coach to jump on board, I'd love to have that conversation with him," added Neas. "Like I said, I want these kids to come out better than my generation did in terms of head injuries and things like that so whatever we can do to make that happen, we're going to do."
Kellam enters Friday with a 5-4 record and will close out its regular season against Landstown. The Knights are set to kick off in the Region 5A quarterfinals next week.
