sport news NFL Guardian Caps are blasted 'STUPID' by Seattle Seahawks defensive linesman trends now

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Seattle Seahawks defensive linesman Shelby Harris has hit out at the use of Guardian Caps in training, slamming the soft-shell helmets 'stupid'.

The Guardian Cap was adopted during the annual league meetings in March as part of the NFL's ongoing effort to reduce head trauma during practices. 

But fears have been expressed that they could actually have the opposite impact, with negative effects developing eventually and Harris believes players could endanger themselves in games. 

'They're stupid,' he said. 'Because here's the thing though, I get what they're trying to do, but the main thing is, you might have guys that start leading with their head more because they're used to not feeling it, and don't know they're doing it, because they have this big old helmet thing on. 

'And then you get in the game, and next thing you know, they knock themselves out.

'I don't know, I just don't think this is necessarily the answer because of the fact that if you do get used to getting hit in the head with this, you wouldn't even know. But, you do something in practice without that thing on, you're like, "OK, I'm not doing that again".