WACO, Texas (KXXV) — In May, 25 News reporter Shahji Adam spoke with Central Texas high school football teams to discuss the rise of guardian caps in high school football. University High School has now invested in the guard cap game.
"One of the reps walked in here with one, and Mike Will was sitting there playing with it and he's like, 'Man, these are kind of cool', so the guy was like, I mean, 'You can have it' — but I think the day he came to me and said, 'This thing is so much cooler on my head as far as temperature goes' — I think that for me was what made me push the ball on it and try to find some funds to get it done," said University football head coach, Kaeron Johnson.
Micah Willis was the first to test out the guardian caps for the Trojans, and Willis understands the impact the caps can bring.
"I got a concussion in practice of my sophomore year and it was just all just us just hitting each other," Willis said.
"Spring is hot, everybody's tired, and you take all those hits and it kind of messes you up — I think with this, it kind of kept me together all spring, and I was able to, you know, finish it up."
With every Trojan football player now able to use these caps during practices and scrimmages, the next question is — will they be used in games?
"Me personally, I'm going to say no, because I like the contact part of football — so I'm going to say no caps in the game," Willis said.
"I feel like we've got to play, I feel like you're going to have to play for real in the game — I think in practice is fine though."
"I think starting with men first before moving them completely down the kids doing it — I think that's big and a big step in and seeing just how safe we can make this game that we play," Johnson said.
University's first game of the season is on August 30 at home against Keller Central.
