The Morning: Can N.F.L. helmet caps actually help?

Plus, the Supreme Court, Mayor Eric Adams and Demi Moore.

View in browser|nytimes.com September 15, 2024 Good morning. Today, my colleague Gina Kolata explores the effectiveness of the N.F.L.'s new helmet caps. We're also covering the Supreme Court, Mayor Eric Adams and Demi Moore. —David Leonhardt Kylen Granson of the Indianapolis Colts wearing a Guardian Cap. Darron Cummings/Associated Press Extra protection? By Gina Kolata I'm a reporter covering health. Now that the N.F.L. season has begun, you may have noticed football players wearing a strange sort of cover over their helmets. It's called a Guardian Cap, and it adds a layer of foam to the outside of the helmet, with the aim of reducing brain injuries. N.F.L. players have worn the caps during summer practice for the past few years, but this is the first season the league is allowing them in games. A handful of players wore them during the opening weekend. The company behind the caps, Guardian Sports, says they reduce the force of the impact when a player's head is hit. But what does that mean? And do they protect against concussions? Erin Hanson, Guardian's founder and owner, said an N.F.L. study found that when players used Guardian helmet caps in practice, the number of concussions fell by more than 50 percent. Yet, Guardian also has a disclaimer on its website: "No helmet, practice apparatus or helmet pad can prevent or eliminate the risk of concussions or other serious head injuries while playing sports. Researchers have not reached an agreement on how the results of impact absorption tests relate to concussions." In a telephone interview, Hanson emphasized that it was unrealistic to think that the cap would prevent all concussions. "Football is a dangerous collision sport," she said. "No doubt about it." I asked brain trauma experts to weigh in. What sort of protection can players realistically expect if they wear the helmet caps? Today's newsletter explains what the extra padding could do for concussions, and for C.T.E., the long-term condition that plagues many players later in life. Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins, center, suffered a concussion during a game on Thursday. Lynne Sladky/Associated Press The trouble with concussions Don't count on these new helmet caps to protect against concussions, experts said. "The problem is that people confuse head injuries with brain injuries," Dr. Jamshid Ghajar, a neurosurgeon and the president of the Brain Trauma Foundation, told me. "Helmets definitely help with head injuries," like a fractured skull or injuries to the scalp, he noted, but they don't help with concussions. Concussions arise when a person's neck bends and twists after the head is hit. That was apparent on Thursday, when the Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion from a tackle that caused his neck to turn sharply. "The neck is very flexible," Dr. Ghajar said. "Its movement causes the brain injury problem, making the front part of the brain whiplash." The front of the brain, he added, "is where we see concussions and severe brain injury." Race-car drivers wear helmets that actually protect them from concussions, Dr. Ghajar noted. The helmet holds the neck rigid so it cannot move in a collision. "Drivers have had collisions at over 200 miles per hour and no brain injury," he said. "Helmets and padding work if you have an iron neck," Dr. Ghajar added. Tricky data But what about that N.F.L. study of players that Hanson cited, showing a 50 percent reduction? "That was a pleasant surprise," Dr. Javier Cardenas, a senior medical adviser for the N.F.L., told me. It happened two years in a row, he added, which led him to conclude that the caps "definitely" reduced the risk of concussions. Dr. Daniel Daneshvar, a concussion expert at Massachusetts General Hospital, is not convinced. He noted that the N.F.L.'s study had relied on players reporting their own symptoms, which makes it hard to draw conclusions. The problem, Dr. Daneshvar said, is that players may not always recognize symptoms of a concussion, or may ignore them. And if they think their new helmet caps are protecting them, they may be less likely to report a concussion. Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports, via Reuters Con Hope for C.T.E. C.T.E., or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is the condition that most frightens many football players. It can lead to memory loss and behavioral changes years later. And it results from not just the traumatic impacts that cause concussions, but also the accumulation of smaller hits to the head that every football player endures. The extra padding of helmet caps could, in theory, help reduce that. "Anything that decreases force to the head will decrease the risk of C.T.E.," Dr. Daneshvar said. Kylen Granson, a tight end for the Indianapolis Colts, has said he plans to wear a helmet cap all season. "I would be remiss in not taking every precaution that's available to me," Granson said in a recent Instagram video. "I'm going to get married this coming year. I want to be able to remember our first dance 30 years from now." The N.F.L. has cited a lab study that found Guardian caps reduced force by 10 percent. That "would probably decrease C.T.E. risk," Dr. Daneshvar said, though he cautioned that the lab study used dummies with rigid necks, which he said created "ideal circumstances to maximize the effect." "My analogy would be a filtered cigarette," Dr. Daneshvar said. "It absolutely decreases the rate of cancer, and it might be a step in the right direction, but it's not the entire solution." THE LATEST NEWS Politics Chief Justice John Roberts Erin Schaff/The New York Times Chief Justice John Roberts deployed his authority during the last Supreme Court term to mold rulings that benefited Donald Trump, a Times investigation found. False claims that Trump has repeated about migrant gangs in Aurora, Colo., stem from the city's fight with a landlord. "She was good at standing up for herself": The Times reporter Astead Herndon spent the week after the presidential debate speaking with undecided voters. Watch a video. New York City Federal investigations could endanger Mayor Eric Adams's re-election chances — and his ability to enact his political agenda. See a tracker of the investigations into the mayor and his circle. The N.Y.P.D. commissioner resigned this past week. Whoever replaces him will take over an agency that Adams has seeded with loyalists. International In Kharkiv, Ukraine. Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times Despite bombing, residents of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv find opportunities for joy in art, dancing and family. See images. Iraq has quietly allowed the Iranian-backed groups Hamas and the Houthis to open offices in Baghdad. The Houthis launched a missile at Israel, penetrating the center of the country for the second time in two months. No casualties were reported. In recent weeks, aid groups have been able to deliver fresh fruit to northern Gaza. "My children were so happy to see apples for the first time in nine months," a resident told The Wall Street Journal. China has used force to drive out the Philippines from parts of the South China Sea, damaging boats and injuring personnel. Drug cartels looking for trafficking routes have infiltrated the thick rainforests of Costa Rica. Other Big Stories Three major wildfires in Southern California have destroyed dozens of homes. Some residents are mourning a lifetime of memories. Astronauts on the SpaceX capsule Polaris Dawn splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico after completing the first commercial spacewalk. "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" made around $190 million in North America in its first 10 days, handing Warner Bros. a hit after a summer of box office misfires. THE SUNDAY DEBATE Will Taylor Swift's endorsement of Kamala Harris affect the election? Yes. Swift's endorsement may not persuade Trump loyalists, but it could increase voter turnout, which makes a difference. "Swift is such a megastar that her endorsement has the potential to be more meaningful than almost any other," David Jackson writes for U.S. News and World Report. No. Her endorsement of Harris was largely expected. She also announced it too early — people will have forgotten about it by November. "While it may provide a short-term boost for fund-raising toward Democrats and general voter registration, the momentum will fade, as with any other celebrity's support," Alex Rosado writes for The Washington Examiner. FROM OPINION Trump said he had "concepts of a plan" to replace the Affordable Care Act. Don't be fooled, Senator Elizabeth Warren writes: He knows how he would gut the health care system. To help their children be more independent, parents should pay less attention, Darby Saxbe writes. Here are columns by Nicholas Kristof on a hidden consequence of climate change and Lydia Polgreen on false claims about immigrants. Readers of The Morning: Don't miss out on a full year of savings. From in-depth coverage of Decision 2024 to unlimited news and analysis, Games, Cooking, The Athletic and more, subscribe now for only $1 a week for your first year. MORNING READS Natasha Ahmed Shoes off, laptops out: A new social media trend involves creatively arranging TSA bins — and showing them off. Clinging on: For many, summer ends in September. Die-hard fans of the season, however, say the best part starts after Labor Day. Real estate: Could characters from "Friends," "Twilight" and "Sex and the City" afford their homes today? Routine: How a 90-year-old comedian spends her Sundays (including a 10-minute set at Gotham Comedy Club). Vows: South meets North India at an inclusive Hindu wedding. Lives Lived: Mary McFadden took symbols from ancient cultures and translated them into intricate embroideries, beading and paintings on dresses worn by figures including Jacqueline Onassis. McFadden died at 85. BOOK OF THE WEEK By Elisabeth Egan "The Life Impossible," by Matt Haig: If only real-life people inherited vacation homes as frequently as fictional ones seem to! In this otherworldly best seller from Matt Haig, author of "The Midnight Library," a septuagenarian math teacher lands a shack in Ibiza, Spain, compliments of a long-lost friend. Of course there are strings attached — mysteries to solve, environmental crises to deflect and entanglements (quantum, romantic and otherwise) to unravel. But roiling beneath Mediterranean splendor is a deeper message about the unknown and whether it should remain that way. Not to be confused with Steve Gleason's moving memoir by the same name, "The Life Impossible" pairs well with Liane Moriarty's "Here One Moment," coming out on Tuesday. Read our review here. More on books Haig opens up about why he's reclaiming Ibiza, the place where he fell apart. In "Here One Moment," an airline passenger tells fellow fliers how and when they'll die. Moriarty has sold more than 20 million books. She has no interest in becoming a "brand." THE INTERVIEW Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times By Lulu Garcia-Navarro This week's subject for The Interview is Demi Moore, whose new movie, "The Substance," is a dark comedy about the horrors of getting older as a woman in Hollywood. But it's also a literal body-horror film in which Moore's character takes a strange elixir that allows her to create a younger, more perfect version of herself. Moore, now in her 60s, spoke about her own attempts at changing her body over the years, and aging in an industry that doesn't always embrace older women. Why did you sign on to star in a movie about a woman who's aging in Hollywood and at war with her own body? It felt very meta watching you do this. Why it was easy for me to step in and do this is because I don't feel I am her. This is a woman who has no family — she's dedicated her entire life to her career, and when that's taken, what does she have? And so, in a way, I had enough separation from her, and at the same time, a deep, internal connection to the pain that she was experiencing, the rejection that she felt. I knew it would be challenging, but potentially a really important exploration of the issue. Tell me what you understand the issue to be. That it's not about what's being done to us — it's what we do to ourselves. It's the violence we have against ourselves. The movie starts with your character sitting down with a male executive and being told that when you turn 50, it's over. Is that something that you heard a lot working in Hollywood? I feel like it's less overt. It's less overt and a little bit more of the unspoken perception that your desirability — there's a line in the film that says your desirability as a woman is done with your fertility, which for me, it's a perception that's been bought into, but it doesn't make it the truth. Read more of the interview here. THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE Photograph of Prince in 1979 by Jurgen Reisch. Click the cover image above to read this week's magazine. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Design a cozy window seat this fall. Consider a kitchen torch. Ditch the brown bag for a good lunch box. MEAL PLAN Christopher Testani for The New York Times Tortellini is an amazing all-ages convenience food, Emily Weinstein writes in this week's Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter. She suggests using it in a one-pot dish with prosciutto and peas, which seems fancier than it really is. Emily's other dinner recommendations include: smashed chicken burgers with Cheddar and parsley, and oven-seared salmon with corn and tomatoes. NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangrams were javelin and javelina. Can you put eight historical events — including the first spacewalk, the first M.R.I., and the invention of the folding umbrella — in chronological order? Take this week's Flashback quiz. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. To stop receiving The Morning, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. 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