Erin Hanson wants to make taking it on the chin in football much safer in Canada.
Guardian Sports officially launched the Guardian Flex chinstrap on Thursday for individual and team sale, with the CFL being among the leagues to have reviewed the item. The product has been engineered to reduce the impact of blows to the facemask.
According to the company, the chinstrap reduces Head Acceleration Response Metric (HARM) scores by up to 35 per cent and targets facemask impacts, which research suggests account for about half of all hits and are an area where traditional helmets underperform.
The chinstrap will be far less noticeable to fans than the Atlanta-based company’s Guardian Cap. Introduced 14 years ago, the soft padded shell fits over a football helmet and is secured by elastic straps attached to the facemask.
While the cap does not eliminate concussion risk, studies have shown it can reduce it by 15 to 34 per cent.
“The Guardian Cap helps address impact reduction on head-to-head, or head-to-ground blows,” said Hanson, Guardian Sports’ chief executive officer and co-founder. “Now the Guardian chinstrap is the first to improve an area where approximately half of all impacts occur.
“The Guardian chinstrap addresses a critical gap in football safety.”
Across North America, particularly at the minor and high-school levels, there has been an effort to reduce head contact in tackling. Players are taught to keep their heads up, initiate contact with their shoulders and then wrap with their arms.
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However, players still butt heads — offensive and defensive linemen do so on nearly every play. At every level, tacklers sometimes lack the time to use proper technique and will do whatever they can to bring the ballcarrier down, resulting in contact involving the facemask or head.
Guardian’s chinstrap has a hard outer shell with a foam insert and what the company describes as SoftShox technology — a hydraulic shock-absorbing mechanism positioned where the player’s chin rests that engages to help absorb force from impacts to the facemask.
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The chinstrap became available for presale last August, and on Sept. 13, Notre Dame offensive lineman Billy Schrauth became the first player to wear it in a game.
Compatible with all major helmets, the white chinstrap comes in two sizes — small/medium and large/extra large — and retails for $69.
Guardian has shared samples and research with the CFL, which in turn did so with its teams. Each franchise will decide whether to purchase the chinstraps, though the expectation is all nine will carry them this season.
CFL players choose their own equipment — including helmets, facemasks, chinstraps, shoulder and leg pads — and teams are required to make approved options available.
The CFL mandated the use of Guardian Caps in 2023 during training camp and regular-season contact practices. All offensive and defensive linemen, running backs and linebackers had to wear them.
That year, then-CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said the introduction of Guardian Caps helped create a 42 per cent decrease in training camp concussions. In 2024, the league extended the use of the caps to defensive backs and receivers while allowing players to wear them during games.
On Aug. 24, 2024, Saskatchewan running back Thomas Bertrand-Hudon, a native of Mont-Saint-Hilarie, Que., became the first pro football player to wear the cap during a CFL regular-season game versus the Montreal Alouettes. Others, such as B.C. Lions defensive back T.J. Lee, have followed.
This season, Alaric Jackson, a Windsor, Ont., native and starting offensive lineman with the NFL’s St. Louis Rams, donned the protective headgear during games. And on Jan. 26, New England guard Jared Wilson became the first player to wear a Guardian Cap in the Super Bowl, doing so in the Patriots’ 29-13 championship loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
The CFL is not the only football league in Canada examining the new chinstrap.
“U Sports is following the advancement of student-athlete protective equipment,” the governing body of Canadian university sport told The Canadian Press. “Once the Guardian Sport chinstrap is approved for play by Football Canada, U Sports athletes will be permitted to use it on a volunteer basis in competitions and training.”
Guardian caps are also available to U Sports football players, with a number having used them during practices in 2025. U Sports said only a few wore them in regular-season games in 2025 and none in bowl games or the Vanier Cup.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
