December 6, 2022 • 34 mins
On this episode of the NFL explained podcast, Mike Yam and Michael Robinson discuss the evolution of equipment from the days a player could fold their helmet up and put it in their pocket, to today!
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
NFL Explained is a production of the NFL in partnership
with I Heart Radio. I was watching one of your
I G stories. Hey, beautiful people. Yes, that's not bad, right,
I'm trying to I'm trying to bring I'm trying to
bring it like m Rob Yeah with you. It's NFL Explained.
(00:28):
It is a brand new edition of the show. You
know the feedback that we've been getting on our mail
bag episode and it's been pretty good, pretty positive. So
my d ms have been I keep getting more and
more questions and that's what And I had someone and
this is my badge for anyone who sent me a message,
and I was like, hey, we're gonna work it in.
(00:48):
And we didn't work it in because someone hit me
up and was like, yeah, I didn't hear my question.
And I was like, all right, my bad. So we
got so many of them that we're actually going and
I promise we're going to get to all the questions.
So if you did submit one to me and I respond,
because I do respond to everyone, trust me, we'll get
to those. But what we're trying to do is actually
take some of the questions and get a full episode,
which is exactly what this episode is all about. A
(01:09):
deep dive into equipment in the NFL, and for me,
I'm robbed. I guess I would start because like you
and I, I'll still say we're kind of young. We're
still kind of young man. So we we had you had.
I shouldn't say we like you had the benefit of
having a lot of modern technology. But anything that comes
to mind that either you wish you did have or
(01:30):
dudes when you were playing that we're older, said, man,
you like back in my day we had to walk
like one of those types of moments. Anything resonate. Um.
I guess everybody remembers, you know, Brian Cox, the big
neck roll or whatever. I played fullback, right, and so
I used to get a lot of stingers in my day,
and so yeah, neck roll. I had the little little nub.
(01:52):
It's like a little nub that kind of goes over
your name plate. It doesn't go outside of your jersey.
So I didn't look like a super big guy, but
I still looked strong and dominant. You still wanted to
look of a fullback and I was. I was. I
could have worn the vicest helmet. It's one of the
safest helmets on the market right now. It's expensive. But
just the technology of the glancing blow. I mean I
(02:13):
had an air helmet, and a lot of our football
enthusiasts know exactly with that is the only thing it
had was you just had a couple of holes, one
at the top, one in the back, and you just
had to pump air in it when you needed some air,
and you went on about your business. I've talked to
it a couple of guys that played well before you too,
and they would tell me that the shift in helmets
actually was something that they felt was in some ways
(02:35):
more safe, in other ways like not as comfortable either,
which surprised me because some of these dudes were like
to throw back, like you know, the really really thick
padding on the inside, and I'll say, you're a secret
Yeah all right, look man, alright, this is between me
and you, no one, all right. So that was two
thousand to two thousand three, maybe two thousand four. I
(02:55):
was at Penn State. We all had the air helmets.
It was nice and cool. Um I got knocked State.
You didn't know that. Um I got knocked out. We
were playing the Wisconsin Badger's Erasmus James unblocked first round
pick hit me boom knocked out right. I was out
for a few weeks, and I remember coach Paterno saying, hey,
(03:16):
rapits and you want to ride most explosive players, but
you can't wear that air helmet anymore. And I'm like, Joe,
what the hell you made? I can't wear my air helmet.
This is all I've known. I've won an air helmet
since I was probably eleven years old, not the same one,
but I've worned that brand of a helmet. He and he,
he made a mandate for me to go back in
(03:36):
the game. I had to wear the newer At that time,
it was a short helmet, it was big. It looked
like I had an extra played on top. And I
had the biggest helmet in all of college football. I
mean literally, I was the laughing stock. I just looked
like a bobblehead. But that was the only way I
could in Yams. I have a big hit. I can
say that because I do have a big head, right,
(03:56):
And so my helmet was already a large, extra large.
I had big pads, large if I had smaller pads.
And now I had this extra, this extra piece on
my helmet, and yeah, I was laughing stock in my
locker room for a little bit, but um I was
safe and uh yeah, man Bobblehead at quarterback got it done. Though,
I'm I'm envisioning like the shaking little bobble head running around.
(04:20):
It was so big. I hated it, but it did
protect me. I can't lie. It was lighter, it felt better,
and it took me a while to get used to it.
But yeah, alright, So I think it's probably a pretty
good place to start, because I think when you talk
about NFL football, one of the first things in equipment,
one of the first things you think about is certainly
the helmet, because it has definitely evolved throughout the years,
and a lot of that has to do with what
(04:40):
Emrod was just talking about, which is player health and safety.
But we gotta go all the way back, all the
way back to the beginning nineteen seventeen, seventy one, seven
one seven, So that's the ways to years ago. Yeah,
very different. University of Illinois head coach Bob Zupkey. He
designed the first leather helmets that the NFL used when
(05:03):
the league first started. A couple of years later in
nine team twenty. Really very protective leather helmets. Joe Paterno
used to tell me after his high school games, they
used to fold up their helmet and put it in
their back pocket. I'm to tell you, man, I'm sorry
I had to say that. Can you imagine knowing someone
who like actually went and did that, You know what
(05:23):
I mean? I mean, I can't. I mean he used
to tell a story about Vince Lombardi playing against him
in high school and he used to fold up their helmet, like, dude.
The stories were crazy, especially when he has some jim
to mount Rushmore. You start thinking about those dude with
the leather helmet, the mount Rushmore of some of these
players um nineteen thirties actually brought the first iterations of
(05:45):
the face mask and plastic helmets. Although those face masks
weren't actually all that popular, the NFL mandated the use
of helmets rams running back Fred Gurkey. He would subsequently
give the NFL it's first logo when he paid in
horns on his own helmet for game in nineteen seven.
By the way, can you imagine a dude right now,
(06:07):
like we're getting into like uniform rules, like you can't
do stuff like that. You can't do anything. You're kidding me, man,
Hell with this, I don't got nothing on my helmet.
Let me just paint something on it, like, which is
kind of cool, by the way, really cool side hustle
for Gurky. He ended up painting seventy five rams helmets.
He was paid a dollar each. World couldn't have work today.
(06:33):
Seven bucks would have gone. Yeah, to tell me stories
about like, you know, the forties, like with like a
buck for a helmet, man, Like that's not that bad.
None cost a dollar now, No, nothing in the dollar
store still cost a dollar. Nineteen fifties, A single bar
face mask invented by Cleveland's coach Paul Brown, who had
(06:54):
an equipment manager actually fashion one to a helmet order
to keep his quarterback autogram in the game after he
took a shot to the face. We'll hear more about
what Paul Brown also did, really a savvy invent a
little bit later here on this episode. But the single
bar eventually became a little bit of a fashion ful
pod in the league. Not you wouldn't be caught. You
don't want just the one bar, man, I mean I
(07:16):
don't know. I mean I've seen some kickers get away
with it. But you don't want the one Barlbo with
the one bar Mike like that would always for me.
But like somebody get just punched you in your face, man,
Like this just happened. It's right there. So last dude
to actually go with the single Joe Timan and that
crazy by the way, we did a thing on NFL
network was like a football life and I guess that
(07:38):
he they changed the pronunciation. He recognizes it, but he
used to be feasman that I didn't even know that
because I'm like, damn, why they're saying his name wrong?
Because I caught it like halfway into the episode. What
is going on? So he told me that story at
his restaurant one time we had a scheduled release show
there that he made me pay for the dinner. I
gotta get at you, Joe. So yeah, by the and
(08:00):
keep in mind, I mean for for thim, a quarterback,
to be doing that kind of unique here, because he
was the last non kicker to wear these single bar
across the face mask nineteen sixty two. Though all players
were face masks in the latter part of that decade,
crossbar actually adopted better protection around the face and the
nose By the nineteen seventies, the full mask really began
(08:21):
to catch on, and then we get to the nineteen nineties.
By the way, we talk about the nineties like it
was a long time ago, Like I feel like the
nineties was a few years ago, But it was. It
was just a little bit, yeah, a little tread on
my tires, I'll tell you. Nineties come around, the helmet
started to become more complex, little different pieces of equipment.
(08:41):
It weighed about three pounds and had more state of
the art padding. The newest helmet technology has added things
like helmet inserts that are actually molded to each individual head,
and also better ways to absorb and redirect energy from contact.
You tell me, because I've actually I mean I've put
it on for fun, but I've never worn one in
the game, and the ones that I've thrown on or
not specific for me comfortable generally speaking, Well, I mean,
(09:05):
you gotta redefine what your definition of comfort is. You
know what I'm saying, Uh, yeah, you want it comfortable,
you want it. So that's not a lot of moving
a lot not a lot of movement in the helmet.
I know for me, any time I put a new
helmet on a helmet on for the first time in
a while. Yeah, it's like you notice all the things
that's in your vision, like if you have bars up,
(09:26):
if you have bars kind of on the side. You know,
you just notice the stuff. And for me, it did
take a little time just to kind of get yourself
oriented in the helmet. And I mean again, it's like
riding a bike. Once you've done it before, you get
used to it. But for me, I always needed to
have the top part of the eyes, part of the
face masks unencombered. I didn't I couldn't have a lot
(09:47):
of bars in front of it because I always stood
up at the fullback position so that I can see
just like the runner can see, so I can be
his eyes. And sometimes if it was a bar right there,
it would trick me into thinking it was an actual person,
and it would it would mess me. It would mess
me up in my spatial awareness. How many how much
do you go through during the course of the season.
It depends. So when I played quarterback, only one, you know,
(10:10):
when I played tailback, maybe two fullback, especially my last
year we when we won our Super Bowl, I went
through five helmets, face masks, breaking just all the collisions,
um and then special teams that that's when kickoff was
really running down there kickoff. So yeah, I went through
five helmets that last year. I still have them all
to So do you like, I mean, it's that's your helmet,
(10:32):
Like is that the one thing? Because we were talking
about cleats right in our Mailbag episode last week, and
like some dudes like Russell Wilson, yo where once. So
that's it. It's a rap for him, the helmet, like
I would imagine because you're telling me, hey, when you're
playing quarterback, it was one like you it's like your
piece of equipment. It's yours, man. And like even when
I played for San Francisco and then I went over
(10:52):
to Seattle, you know, I brought my helmet with me.
You know, they repaying it, They red they redid it up,
because again, it is a personal thing, and a lot
of times, especially the older helmets, they would you know
kind of like get worn kind of and mold it
kind of to your head, and you just get used
to those times. So you took them like I took
him with me. I took my shoulder pass with me. Everything. Yeah,
(11:14):
Like I know, I mean I think Leonard four still
has his LSU should pass. Many of these guys are
some of his superstitions. Some of it is just being
comfortable with the equipment, and some guys just like, oh no, man,
I've won this many games and this I ain't changed
and this is what it is. I had no idea
about that. I did mention Paul Brown a little earlier
(11:34):
about the helmets and the whole thing. Another huge contribution
to helmet technology, not knowing people have realized this. But
let's go back thinkteen fifty six. Brown was actually approached
by two Cleveland fans who happened to be inventors and
thought they could help the coach find a new way
to communicate with his quarterback via radio signal. Here's what
the legend here, here's how it goes. You got two dudes,
(11:57):
John Campbell and George Claris. They began testing the equipment
in the woods near one of their homes. Which what
good happens in the woods? You know what I'm saying.
Watched a whole lot of Dateline recently after it interviewed
the radio signal with the police officer driving by. The
cop was like, yo, what's going on? Questioned the two
dudes like they found him and was like, yo, like
(12:17):
what's going on here? Here's the deal. Though the cop
was a Browns fan and said, oh, you know what
you know, you keep rolling in the woods. You do
whatever you want to do in the woods, and then
here we go. So uh. Cleveland quarterback George Ratterman was
the first to wear the radio helmet, but the opponents
at the time where the Lions. They got a little
suspicious when they saw a transmitter on the sideline. Then
(12:39):
NFL Commissioner Bell banned the new system, which didn't return
until when the technology obviously dramatically improved. Was that seventy
when they finally started using it. That is crazy, man.
What's the craziest part that the fact that there was
(13:00):
that much of a gap or the cop was like, yo,
you do whatever you want in the woods. Oh man,
I already know man, fans, you know what I'm saying.
We're here, man, I get it. But that long, I
would have just all the great minds of the National
Football and you just would have thought that this idea
would have came up a little bit faster, you would think.
(13:20):
But like I also, it's a product of your environment
and there's no disrespect. We do a segment on total disrespect,
and so I go here. It is no disrespect. But
I wouldn't think Cleveland the technology hub. I mean, dude,
I was in the Bay Area for like almost a decade,
so I think because the ways, you know, but in
(13:44):
the phase right, like I know what, that's just still
that's me being young on this episode. Okay, but it
is wild and it took a really long time for
the communication and the technology to improve, and this is
what has made for some interesting developments on the football field. Now.
In fact, you are rules around these communications systems. In fact,
(14:04):
only two players on the field can hear the sideline.
That's the quarterback and the defensive captain, who's generally a linebacker.
Those players are given the green dots sticker on their
helmet to destinate which helmet has the communications system in it.
Only the sideline can talk to the players with the headset.
No one from the booth actually didn't realize that. I
thought you could get some of that communication from and
(14:26):
it would be wired that way, but that's not actually
accurate to me. That would be an unfair advantage because
you can see the field, Yeah, you can see the field.
The vantage point is is a little bit different. But
you know it's crazy, right Like all this technology to
me is a gift and occurs. We all remember Jared
Golf Sean McVeigh and the stories that, Yeah, he would
kind of feed him the plays and talk to him,
(14:47):
and that's why they will run that hurry up offense
because with fifteen seconds left on the play clock, that
system cuts off and the quarterback can't talk to the
sideline anymore. And so Sean McVeigh kind of figured out
a loophole. Then you go hurry up off and snap
the ball before we get the fifteen seconds. I can
coach my quarterback through the entire play and that's what
was happening. I think again, I think it's a gift
(15:09):
and a curse man, because at the end of the day,
you want your quarterback to be able to see the
information and be able to process the information and be
able to come up and develop his own answers to
the problem right there on the spot. Sometimes that that
that system can you can develop a crutch when you're
just waiting on the play caller to feed you the information.
Sometimes I think you can get a little bit money
(15:31):
so I'm actually glad you brought that up. And and
just to be clear here, what I'm Robs talking about
is the sideline actually cuts out with fifteen seconds remaining
on the play clock. When that happens, is it chaotic
on the field because you don't necessarily know is it
hand signals like how do you transition that? The few
times that it has happened to me? Um, one time
I had a backup quarterback doing it, and yeah, it
(15:52):
was chaos. It was like, dude, guys, I'm not hearing
I'm not hearing the sideline, you know, and then you know,
commer heads kind of you know happened. I think we
had our Nez battle. He was one of our slot receivers.
It was a third down. He kind of had one
of his favorite lads. He was able to kind of
help the quarterback out. But at the end of the day,
everybody knows the game plan, and the quarterback should be
prepared enough so that let's say it's a third down
(16:14):
or let's say it's a second down and six or whatever,
they know the game plans. They should know the game
plans so well that the it should be a play
that they should have in the back of their mind
to go to. You know, we did an episode on
instant replay. People always talk about lengthening the game, the
fact that things are more streamlined, Like we don't see
teams huddle a whole lot, right, Like it almost feel
(16:34):
like it's almost a good thing that there's a little
bit more efficiency now in terms of the communication, the
play calling, and what we're seeing in today's game. It's
a great thing because again, a quarterback can kind of
be at the line of scrimmage. The whole offensive line
can be at the line of scrimmage. Just think guys
are playing let me call it play double wing right,
quick as right to twelve flat. I mean, in that
(16:56):
entire play, the offensive line, all they need to hear
is quick as right. They don't care about everything else.
And that play, all the wide receivers need to hear
is to twelve a flat. They don't need to hear
the other part. You see what I'm saying. And so
the fact that we're able to streamline the communication, it
helps everybody play a little bit faster. Was that your
favorite play? It was one of so it's like, yeah,
(17:17):
it was one of those flats, and it was actually
I was always cool. Another cool, smart, cool little story.
I was always the emergency quarterback, so on during walkthroughs
on Saturdays, I would always take the walkthroughs and I
would always you know, call my plays and stuff like that.
So I was pretty dope with that. That was a
three step game. And then on game day I always
had a backup helmet that had the radio system just
(17:39):
in case the first two quarterbacks went downright, did you
be honest when you kind of hope not that you
didn't ever want to see someone at her? And that's
how I needed to go down right. I wanted to
throw some passes. Okay. Oh man. It was in San Francisco.
One year Alex was hurt, Sean Hill was hurt. We
brought in Chris Winky Like Wednesday, Chris was gray hair
(18:03):
and every day was old and Chris Early could take
a snap. I remember on that Wednesday office according to
looking at me like, Mike, dude, you're probably gonna play
this week. I'll pumped for you. I was like, let's
just go. Bro. I when waiting for this, I was
a housman final as I was trying to put to
(18:23):
my own horn. He got himself straight and whatever, but
that wee can practice you. I called some plays, I
ran my two minute drill. I was a little pumped up.
All right, Uh, still more to come here. When we
come back, we'll talk about exactly how much smaller shoulder
pads have become and look at some other important trends
for equipment that have come and gone. You don't want
to miss it. Welcome back to NFL. Explain Super Bowl Champ,
(18:53):
m Rob Mike cam with you. Uh, big pad, small
pad guy? So again it was I was like in
between because I played a big guy position. But yet
I was cool though because I used to play quarterback too,
so I wanted the small pads. But I did have
a baby neck. Roll was a baby one man. So
it didn't go out my pets. It was still inside
my jersey. But you still saw it. But it didn't
look like crazy what I'm saying. No, I'm with you,
(19:15):
you know, stylistically, I'm we're gonna bring this back to broadcasters.
You know, back in the day, the suits had the
shoulder pads dealing. Yeah, man, you can't that. They don't
look good anymore. I can see you in shoulders. What
are you talking? You know how much I work out
on the traps here, Like, I don't need shoulders pads?
What are you talking about? That was actually my first suits,
(19:37):
Like when I got into broadcast, had the shoulder pads.
It looks so much more Jack, Now, I don't even
need the damn pads. You can. I mean, I don't
want any of that stuff. Um. Shoulder pads, though, obviously,
are really significant and in sort of iconic, just like
the helmets. It's a big differentiator in our sport compared
to the other ones. But let's take a trip back
to the nineteen twenties where we're all about like these
flashbacks here players actually first started wearing shoulder pads, but
(19:59):
they were actually made out of felt full and leather,
wool and leather. Yeah, but think about that, right, Like
had the helmets that were leather, so they were probably
like I'm thinking, like cow, I don't wanna tell you
what I'm thinking, but like it's funny. Yeah, turn Off
was my coach, right, you do know that, right, great
coach of all time. Um Joe used to always say
(20:23):
football got dangerous when you took the leather helmets off.
We had less so to pass. Guys, trust me, you're
not gonna run into another human being knowing you're gonna
feel all of that. You know what I'm saying. He
was like, you want to take the head out of football,
put leather helmets on. That was always his vote. No wonder,
you're such a big proponent for flag football. So come
on full circle here. So once again, this is what
(20:47):
we're talking about. Like cloth and leather in the nineteen
twenties for pads, by the nineteen sixties we actually moved
from the hardened leather to fiber shell to plastic. The
plastic shoulder pads were actually expanded in size so much
in the eighties and nineties guys probably even had problems
right like walking through like doors you kind of to
give too damn bit they were way too big. I
(21:09):
just remember Levon Kirkland, the middle linebacker back in the day.
I remember saying, dude, that's the National Football League. Those
are the linebackers that are coming to hit me. Oh man, yeah,
show the pass with you. How much do you think
the slimmer pads actually helps some of the more athletic
players that we see now. Oh man, they're they're everything.
I play with A guy Michael Bennett It's like Michael
(21:29):
Bennett didn't even have pads. Mike b would tell you, Mike,
I wish I just didn't have pads. Just put me
into jersey in a helmet and I'll be fine. But
I just think what's happening now is the rules of
the game. I'm making the game safer. We're starting to
not eliminate, but we're limiting the high impact collisions, and
so smaller pads help guys move better, move faster, a
(21:53):
little bit more limber, have a little bit more flexibility.
And to me, it's making the game safer because guys
don't have to be so big and and and the
pads of smallest, so they don't think mentally they could
just running the guy's full speed. You have to think
before you make tackles and blocks. Uh. You're probably right
about that. And I'm hearing Joe Paterno giving you that advice,
telling you when the game got more dangerous because of
(22:15):
the pads. But I think what you're describing to me
makes a lot of sense. Another piece of equipment that's
actually decreased in size, and in some cases you don't
even see it. That's the thigh and the knee pads.
That's always wild to me. Ever, get when you were
in elementary school that like your boy would come up
to you and give you the dead leg, you know,
like knee and the side by the way. Now now
I actually pay someone basically to do that. Every week
(22:36):
I go to the chiropractice. I'm like, oh my god,
this hurts so bad. It's crazy. But that's kind of
a thing now. Um, they were actually originally the knee
and the thigh pads originally plastic, but they've transformed softer,
more flexible material. Prior to players had the option of
not wearing them, but then they became mandatory. Nevertheless, the
(22:58):
slimming of the pads has made the overall profile the
players a whole lot sleeker. All right. So another thing
that's sort of changed time is jerseys. And you and
I both know jerseys is how we identify dudes. There
is extremely popular. You go to any NFL stadium and
you just see a sea of jerseys, you know, people
just rocking them for their favorite players. Um, back in
(23:19):
the day, wool and cotton jerseys, Man, you might as
well do like, what's the what's the fabric with the
potato sack deal? You know, like the real you know
what I'm talking about, and then you go and go, whoa,
You might as well just burlap. Is that what it is? Um?
Now fans know it's it's polyester, it's mesh. They're a
(23:41):
little bit more fitted, harder to grab on. I've heard
some stories over the years, like you grease yourself up
a little bit vassaline, whatever the case may be. You
like you were so fat, you don't really worry about
that stuff. But any any sort of tricks that you
have come across in your time, Guys just trying to
get away with things. Now you're can I not call out?
(24:04):
Who can I not call out? I know? UM and
cold weather games, you know, guys putting the vassoline and
stuff all over their arms and stuff like that. You
put the handwarmers and the toes and the feet of
your cleats and stuff like that. I know for me,
I used Michael Vick when I was coming out of college.
(24:24):
Was the guy, you know what I'm saying. I was
a quarterback in Virginia. He was from Virginia. I wanted
my jersey when I played quarterback to look exactly like
how Michael Vick's jersey was cut, but biologically my arms
wasn't as long as here, so it restricted me from
throwing the football. So I would always get my jerseys
really really tight, even when I played full back. But
they were so tight I would have to cut them
underneath the arms because it would literally cut my armpit.
(24:47):
I would have scars from the jersey cutting and digging
into my I wasn't wasn't who it was just so tight. Um.
But yeah, man, that's kind of my things I did
with my jersey. All right, Welcome back to the NFL
(25:09):
Explained podcasts. Mike Yam and Rob with you. All right, So,
anyone who please or played football knows when you're wearing gloves,
they have changed dramatically. I've worked with enough wide receivers
in my career and they'll tell you they watched some
catches like yo, man, stick them. That's that's all I
have that back in my day, No more stick on.
(25:32):
We got gloves, which basically here's where I'm gonna go
with this. So justin Jefferson, a couple of weeks ago,
you told me on Total Acts the greatest it was.
It was really remarkable. Um, I don't know if he
does he does he grab that. I think so, Okay,
I look at the O'Dell catches more of a glove
thing because of the way the ball was coming down.
(25:53):
I'm not I think O'Dell was one of the most
adamic receivers ever played this game. I just look at
the way justin Jefferson's catch was it. His was more
of the ball in the palm of his hand, the
defender helping him to catch the football a little bit.
That's why I think it was less gloves. Okay, So
I throw this your way because players, like I said,
back in the day, used to use like stickum, let's
(26:15):
put some paste, a little air sault, anything to get
a little bit of like friction on the gloves to
make it easier. All that stuff. By the way, band in,
But how about this, Jerry Rice is like, I'll take
your band and you can put it where you're not
supposed to put things. So you know what I'm saying.
Jerry Rice used to say like he would use stick
hum like He's like, so the coat, actually, seriously do
(26:39):
what you need to do. So I don't know if
anyone was actually checking the goats gloves, but what I
do know is there is a team that checks every
single game your uniforms. In fact, I'm very well aware
of this here at NFL Network. Steve Mariuchi and I
are lockermates mooch. Every time I see him on a Monday,
he will show me pictures that he takes of guys
(27:01):
and uniforms. He is so he is like a stickler
for this ugly they gotta do it right. He gets
really upset about I used to know. I know in
in Seattle, I used to know who our guy was.
It is the same guy because he lives in the
area and every game coming out he knew, but he
had it was part of his job. He had to
(27:22):
remind me. Mike got a change of cleats because cleats
have to have I think a certain percentage of the
home colors of who. I don't know. It's a bunch
of different rules. And I would always say, Bro, you
already know I'm gonna change, but I gotta look fresh
for the warm ups. Man, I'll change. But if you
come back out there with those cleats, he's sitting there
looking at you. He's gonna he's gonna write you up.
(27:43):
He'll find you. So there are actually sixty four NFL
employees that monitor uniforms and equipment each game. You've gotta
be up to code here. League Operations manual states all
players must tuck in their jerseys. They cannot wear bandannas.
Stockings must be white from the top of the shoot
to midcalf, and an approved team color from midcalf to
the bottom of the pant leg, which must be pulled
(28:06):
down below the knees. That's actually the below the needst thing.
That's what gets mood like on another level. And well
he gets so mad at that. It's ridiculous. The white
never goes up halfway A lot of times, guys for
black socks up there. I mean it's players cannot wear
headgear or any other equipment or apparel that, in the
opinion of the uniform inspector or the referee, may confuse
(28:29):
an opponent because its color is similar to a football.
Only logos or brands from the league's official partners can
be displayed. Players may wear other brands as long as
they remove or cover the name on the logo. Hello.
I remember when under Armour was first coming out. I
was coming into the league at the time, and the
founders went to the University of Maryland, and they were
(28:52):
trying to get guys to be a part of their
group and they weren't league. They weren't approved yet. And
I'm in Vernon Davis on my team with the San
Francesco before and now is every single game he had
to cover the logo up, he had to take the
cleats up. He didn't want tape the cleats. He wanted
to show the cleats off, but they weren't approved yet. Wow,
did you get any paper from those dudes? Dudes? I
(29:13):
want some paper from him all day right now, exactly,
don't matter if or not I'm ready to get paid. UH.
Fines for equipment violations can actually add up for foreign
substances on the body of your uniform five k for
the first offense. The same goes for an unapproved visor tent,
and over ten thou dollars for writing personal messages or
(29:34):
wearing unauthorized logos, branding or intellectual property. It's a ton
to keep track of um any and he finds any
of your former teammates or friends that you can think
of that just said, screw it. I'll pay the fine
every single weekend. It keeps going up. Didn't care, you
know best? Moo wear gold cleats. He wear Beastmo brand stuff.
None of that stuff was approved. He said, here's a check.
(29:57):
When the years over, whatever the fines were, just write
the number right there, I'm gonna pay. I mean, that's
the way it is. But again, his beast More brand
made in the back end. It's a good point. I
feel like the equipment manager has a lot of pressure
on them. Oh. First of all, the equipment manager in
every football building, all thirty two buildings around this country,
(30:20):
are the most popular people in the building. They help
us get our cleats. They helped us connect with the
brand reps, with the Nike reps to reb I mean
they do everything. Oftentimes. Oftentimes team meetings, unofficial team player
meetings are in the equipment manager's office. That's just where
(30:42):
guys hang out. That's where guys have a coffee, that's
where guys have their lunch. I mean, the equipment manager
is the guy man I love e k shout out
the e k Um. You mentioned neck rolls a little
bit earlier in this edition for you. Was it just
like straight intimidation factor, No, it wasn't. I had a
stinger issue. I used always get stingers and when I
(31:03):
went to my Cairo practor and up telling me like,
you're nex supposed to have like a curve, like a
question mark. So my neck. The reason why I was
getting a lot of stingers is because I was absorbing
my neck with a little bit more straight and then
have the spring. Well. I used to have to wear
this brace twenty minutes a day just to correct the
curve in my neck. And actually I advise a lot
(31:25):
of fullbacks currently in the National Football League. A lot
of guys call me hit me up in box. He Mike,
I'm getting stingers. I'm getting this from my neck or whatever.
I showed them the device I have, and a lot
of them get it in the stingers go away. So
it's interesting. Recently I've seen this happened. Actually, tell a
rap I got to know a little bit of place
for the rams now he went to Washington. I used
to cover them, and I saw him post this on
(31:45):
social media, and then I realized, like, this is becoming
a thing. And it's not a neck roll of sorts.
It's actually called the Q collar. It's a lot smaller,
but it applies light pressure to the neck and the
collar increases blood volume in the head, providing extra cushion
for the brain during impacts. And I'm thinking to myself,
I'm like looking at some of the descriptions, is that
really say, well, the FDA actually approved this thing in
(32:08):
a ton of players use it. Tony Pollard certainly comes
to mind. Shaq Thompson. I mentioned Taylor app already. In addition,
four NFL teams, along with eight D one teams, actually
have mouth guards featuring sensors that gather data for analysis
of the frequency and severity of a lot of the
impacts not only during the games, but also during practices.
That's actually part of the NFL sixty million dollar commitment
(32:31):
to try to help promote health and safety for a
lot of the players. Like I know, you're not surprised
hearing about something that's ingenious. I was part of a
group that was trying to develop a mouthpiece like that
about five or six years ago. Just think about if
a player knew exactly the content of his lava or
whatever when he's healthy and he's fully hydrated, and then
(32:52):
going through practice and knowing exactly how much water you
need to drink, how many electrolights you need. I mean,
what an advantage for an athlete. So Yeah, kudos for
the National Football League into those college programs using the program.
Anything else that you want to see it wise that
might be helpful for you. Anything else I want to
see equipment wise, because now it's like GPS, monitors at
practice tracking, you know, sleep, all of that. Like I
(33:15):
feel like heart rate, a lot of this stuff is
already available. I don't know if you want to see
anything taken to another level or not. It's tough. I mean,
I think you know the people in our sport, they've
thought of everything. I think now it's just about improving
the technology that we already have and making the technology
so that it's not an all encompassing thing. Meaning you
and are different. Yes you can have the same test
(33:38):
on both of us, but understanding that we're different people
than maybe you know, an answer for you may not
always be the same answer for myself. Really fascinating to
hear about a lot of this stuff with equipment. Really
appreciate that guy that shot me a d M sparked
this entire episode. I know, I promise because we keep
getting some of these dms. You can hit me up
(33:59):
at Mike Underscore m You can follow Mike rob and
a real mic Rob because he's not gonna answer you
at DMS. I will, I promise, UM, but we're going
to continue. I'm telling you, guys, I get the d
m S, screenshot it, I send it to our entire
team and Robs on there. I usually fire off the emoji.
If we don't get to it in our next mail
bag edition, we're going to do exactly what we just did,
which is take your question and make it a whole episode.
(34:22):
Really appreciate you guys listening. Tell your friends about NFL
explained
NFL Explained is a production of the NFL in partnership
with I Heart Radio. I was watching one of your
I G stories. Hey, beautiful people. Yes, that's not bad, right,
I'm trying to I'm trying to bring I'm trying to
bring it like m Rob Yeah with you. It's NFL Explained.
(00:28):
It is a brand new edition of the show. You
know the feedback that we've been getting on our mail
bag episode and it's been pretty good, pretty positive. So
my d ms have been I keep getting more and
more questions and that's what And I had someone and
this is my badge for anyone who sent me a message,
and I was like, hey, we're gonna work it in.
(00:48):
And we didn't work it in because someone hit me
up and was like, yeah, I didn't hear my question.
And I was like, all right, my bad. So we
got so many of them that we're actually going and
I promise we're going to get to all the questions.
So if you did submit one to me and I respond,
because I do respond to everyone, trust me, we'll get
to those. But what we're trying to do is actually
take some of the questions and get a full episode,
which is exactly what this episode is all about. A
(01:09):
deep dive into equipment in the NFL, and for me,
I'm robbed. I guess I would start because like you
and I, I'll still say we're kind of young. We're
still kind of young man. So we we had you had.
I shouldn't say we like you had the benefit of
having a lot of modern technology. But anything that comes
to mind that either you wish you did have or
(01:30):
dudes when you were playing that we're older, said, man,
you like back in my day we had to walk
like one of those types of moments. Anything resonate. Um.
I guess everybody remembers, you know, Brian Cox, the big
neck roll or whatever. I played fullback, right, and so
I used to get a lot of stingers in my day,
and so yeah, neck roll. I had the little little nub.
(01:52):
It's like a little nub that kind of goes over
your name plate. It doesn't go outside of your jersey.
So I didn't look like a super big guy, but
I still looked strong and dominant. You still wanted to
look of a fullback and I was. I was. I
could have worn the vicest helmet. It's one of the
safest helmets on the market right now. It's expensive. But
just the technology of the glancing blow. I mean I
(02:13):
had an air helmet, and a lot of our football
enthusiasts know exactly with that is the only thing it
had was you just had a couple of holes, one
at the top, one in the back, and you just
had to pump air in it when you needed some air,
and you went on about your business. I've talked to
it a couple of guys that played well before you too,
and they would tell me that the shift in helmets
actually was something that they felt was in some ways
(02:35):
more safe, in other ways like not as comfortable either,
which surprised me because some of these dudes were like
to throw back, like you know, the really really thick
padding on the inside, and I'll say, you're a secret
Yeah all right, look man, alright, this is between me
and you, no one, all right. So that was two
thousand to two thousand three, maybe two thousand four. I
(02:55):
was at Penn State. We all had the air helmets.
It was nice and cool. Um I got knocked State.
You didn't know that. Um I got knocked out. We
were playing the Wisconsin Badger's Erasmus James unblocked first round
pick hit me boom knocked out right. I was out
for a few weeks, and I remember coach Paterno saying, hey,
(03:16):
rapits and you want to ride most explosive players, but
you can't wear that air helmet anymore. And I'm like, Joe,
what the hell you made? I can't wear my air helmet.
This is all I've known. I've won an air helmet
since I was probably eleven years old, not the same one,
but I've worned that brand of a helmet. He and he,
he made a mandate for me to go back in
(03:36):
the game. I had to wear the newer At that time,
it was a short helmet, it was big. It looked
like I had an extra played on top. And I
had the biggest helmet in all of college football. I
mean literally, I was the laughing stock. I just looked
like a bobblehead. But that was the only way I
could in Yams. I have a big hit. I can
say that because I do have a big head, right,
(03:56):
And so my helmet was already a large, extra large.
I had big pads, large if I had smaller pads.
And now I had this extra, this extra piece on
my helmet, and yeah, I was laughing stock in my
locker room for a little bit, but um I was
safe and uh yeah, man Bobblehead at quarterback got it done. Though,
I'm I'm envisioning like the shaking little bobble head running around.
(04:20):
It was so big. I hated it, but it did
protect me. I can't lie. It was lighter, it felt better,
and it took me a while to get used to it.
But yeah, alright, So I think it's probably a pretty
good place to start, because I think when you talk
about NFL football, one of the first things in equipment,
one of the first things you think about is certainly
the helmet, because it has definitely evolved throughout the years,
and a lot of that has to do with what
(04:40):
Emrod was just talking about, which is player health and safety.
But we gotta go all the way back, all the
way back to the beginning nineteen seventeen, seventy one, seven
one seven, So that's the ways to years ago. Yeah,
very different. University of Illinois head coach Bob Zupkey. He
designed the first leather helmets that the NFL used when
(05:03):
the league first started. A couple of years later in
nine team twenty. Really very protective leather helmets. Joe Paterno
used to tell me after his high school games, they
used to fold up their helmet and put it in
their back pocket. I'm to tell you, man, I'm sorry
I had to say that. Can you imagine knowing someone
who like actually went and did that, You know what
(05:23):
I mean? I mean, I can't. I mean he used
to tell a story about Vince Lombardi playing against him
in high school and he used to fold up their helmet, like, dude.
The stories were crazy, especially when he has some jim
to mount Rushmore. You start thinking about those dude with
the leather helmet, the mount Rushmore of some of these
players um nineteen thirties actually brought the first iterations of
(05:45):
the face mask and plastic helmets. Although those face masks
weren't actually all that popular, the NFL mandated the use
of helmets rams running back Fred Gurkey. He would subsequently
give the NFL it's first logo when he paid in
horns on his own helmet for game in nineteen seven.
By the way, can you imagine a dude right now,
(06:07):
like we're getting into like uniform rules, like you can't
do stuff like that. You can't do anything. You're kidding me, man,
Hell with this, I don't got nothing on my helmet.
Let me just paint something on it, like, which is
kind of cool, by the way, really cool side hustle
for Gurky. He ended up painting seventy five rams helmets.
He was paid a dollar each. World couldn't have work today.
(06:33):
Seven bucks would have gone. Yeah, to tell me stories
about like, you know, the forties, like with like a
buck for a helmet, man, Like that's not that bad.
None cost a dollar now, No, nothing in the dollar
store still cost a dollar. Nineteen fifties, A single bar
face mask invented by Cleveland's coach Paul Brown, who had
(06:54):
an equipment manager actually fashion one to a helmet order
to keep his quarterback autogram in the game after he
took a shot to the face. We'll hear more about
what Paul Brown also did, really a savvy invent a
little bit later here on this episode. But the single
bar eventually became a little bit of a fashion ful
pod in the league. Not you wouldn't be caught. You
don't want just the one bar, man, I mean I
(07:16):
don't know. I mean I've seen some kickers get away
with it. But you don't want the one Barlbo with
the one bar Mike like that would always for me.
But like somebody get just punched you in your face, man,
Like this just happened. It's right there. So last dude
to actually go with the single Joe Timan and that
crazy by the way, we did a thing on NFL
network was like a football life and I guess that
(07:38):
he they changed the pronunciation. He recognizes it, but he
used to be feasman that I didn't even know that
because I'm like, damn, why they're saying his name wrong?
Because I caught it like halfway into the episode. What
is going on? So he told me that story at
his restaurant one time we had a scheduled release show
there that he made me pay for the dinner. I
gotta get at you, Joe. So yeah, by the and
(08:00):
keep in mind, I mean for for thim, a quarterback,
to be doing that kind of unique here, because he
was the last non kicker to wear these single bar
across the face mask nineteen sixty two. Though all players
were face masks in the latter part of that decade,
crossbar actually adopted better protection around the face and the
nose By the nineteen seventies, the full mask really began
(08:21):
to catch on, and then we get to the nineteen nineties.
By the way, we talk about the nineties like it
was a long time ago, Like I feel like the
nineties was a few years ago, But it was. It
was just a little bit, yeah, a little tread on
my tires, I'll tell you. Nineties come around, the helmet
started to become more complex, little different pieces of equipment.
(08:41):
It weighed about three pounds and had more state of
the art padding. The newest helmet technology has added things
like helmet inserts that are actually molded to each individual head,
and also better ways to absorb and redirect energy from contact.
You tell me, because I've actually I mean I've put
it on for fun, but I've never worn one in
the game, and the ones that I've thrown on or
not specific for me comfortable generally speaking, Well, I mean,
(09:05):
you gotta redefine what your definition of comfort is. You
know what I'm saying, Uh, yeah, you want it comfortable,
you want it. So that's not a lot of moving
a lot not a lot of movement in the helmet.
I know for me, any time I put a new
helmet on a helmet on for the first time in
a while. Yeah, it's like you notice all the things
that's in your vision, like if you have bars up,
(09:26):
if you have bars kind of on the side. You know,
you just notice the stuff. And for me, it did
take a little time just to kind of get yourself
oriented in the helmet. And I mean again, it's like
riding a bike. Once you've done it before, you get
used to it. But for me, I always needed to
have the top part of the eyes, part of the
face masks unencombered. I didn't I couldn't have a lot
(09:47):
of bars in front of it because I always stood
up at the fullback position so that I can see
just like the runner can see, so I can be
his eyes. And sometimes if it was a bar right there,
it would trick me into thinking it was an actual person,
and it would it would mess me. It would mess
me up in my spatial awareness. How many how much
do you go through during the course of the season.
It depends. So when I played quarterback, only one, you know,
(10:10):
when I played tailback, maybe two fullback, especially my last
year we when we won our Super Bowl, I went
through five helmets, face masks, breaking just all the collisions,
um and then special teams that that's when kickoff was
really running down there kickoff. So yeah, I went through
five helmets that last year. I still have them all
to So do you like, I mean, it's that's your helmet,
(10:32):
Like is that the one thing? Because we were talking
about cleats right in our Mailbag episode last week, and
like some dudes like Russell Wilson, yo where once. So
that's it. It's a rap for him, the helmet, like
I would imagine because you're telling me, hey, when you're
playing quarterback, it was one like you it's like your
piece of equipment. It's yours, man. And like even when
I played for San Francisco and then I went over
(10:52):
to Seattle, you know, I brought my helmet with me.
You know, they repaying it, They red they redid it up,
because again, it is a personal thing, and a lot
of times, especially the older helmets, they would you know
kind of like get worn kind of and mold it
kind of to your head, and you just get used
to those times. So you took them like I took
him with me. I took my shoulder pass with me. Everything. Yeah,
(11:14):
Like I know, I mean I think Leonard four still
has his LSU should pass. Many of these guys are
some of his superstitions. Some of it is just being
comfortable with the equipment, and some guys just like, oh no, man,
I've won this many games and this I ain't changed
and this is what it is. I had no idea
about that. I did mention Paul Brown a little earlier
(11:34):
about the helmets and the whole thing. Another huge contribution
to helmet technology, not knowing people have realized this. But
let's go back thinkteen fifty six. Brown was actually approached
by two Cleveland fans who happened to be inventors and
thought they could help the coach find a new way
to communicate with his quarterback via radio signal. Here's what
the legend here, here's how it goes. You got two dudes,
(11:57):
John Campbell and George Claris. They began testing the equipment
in the woods near one of their homes. Which what
good happens in the woods? You know what I'm saying.
Watched a whole lot of Dateline recently after it interviewed
the radio signal with the police officer driving by. The
cop was like, yo, what's going on? Questioned the two
dudes like they found him and was like, yo, like
(12:17):
what's going on here? Here's the deal. Though the cop
was a Browns fan and said, oh, you know what
you know, you keep rolling in the woods. You do
whatever you want to do in the woods, and then
here we go. So uh. Cleveland quarterback George Ratterman was
the first to wear the radio helmet, but the opponents
at the time where the Lions. They got a little
suspicious when they saw a transmitter on the sideline. Then
(12:39):
NFL Commissioner Bell banned the new system, which didn't return
until when the technology obviously dramatically improved. Was that seventy
when they finally started using it. That is crazy, man.
What's the craziest part that the fact that there was
(13:00):
that much of a gap or the cop was like, yo,
you do whatever you want in the woods. Oh man,
I already know man, fans, you know what I'm saying.
We're here, man, I get it. But that long, I
would have just all the great minds of the National
Football and you just would have thought that this idea
would have came up a little bit faster, you would think.
(13:20):
But like I also, it's a product of your environment
and there's no disrespect. We do a segment on total disrespect,
and so I go here. It is no disrespect. But
I wouldn't think Cleveland the technology hub. I mean, dude,
I was in the Bay Area for like almost a decade,
so I think because the ways, you know, but in
(13:44):
the phase right, like I know what, that's just still
that's me being young on this episode. Okay, but it
is wild and it took a really long time for
the communication and the technology to improve, and this is
what has made for some interesting developments on the football field. Now.
In fact, you are rules around these communications systems. In fact,
(14:04):
only two players on the field can hear the sideline.
That's the quarterback and the defensive captain, who's generally a linebacker.
Those players are given the green dots sticker on their
helmet to destinate which helmet has the communications system in it.
Only the sideline can talk to the players with the headset.
No one from the booth actually didn't realize that. I
thought you could get some of that communication from and
(14:26):
it would be wired that way, but that's not actually
accurate to me. That would be an unfair advantage because
you can see the field, Yeah, you can see the field.
The vantage point is is a little bit different. But
you know it's crazy, right Like all this technology to
me is a gift and occurs. We all remember Jared
Golf Sean McVeigh and the stories that, Yeah, he would
kind of feed him the plays and talk to him,
(14:47):
and that's why they will run that hurry up offense
because with fifteen seconds left on the play clock, that
system cuts off and the quarterback can't talk to the
sideline anymore. And so Sean McVeigh kind of figured out
a loophole. Then you go hurry up off and snap
the ball before we get the fifteen seconds. I can
coach my quarterback through the entire play and that's what
was happening. I think again, I think it's a gift
(15:09):
and a curse man, because at the end of the day,
you want your quarterback to be able to see the
information and be able to process the information and be
able to come up and develop his own answers to
the problem right there on the spot. Sometimes that that
that system can you can develop a crutch when you're
just waiting on the play caller to feed you the information.
Sometimes I think you can get a little bit money
(15:31):
so I'm actually glad you brought that up. And and
just to be clear here, what I'm Robs talking about
is the sideline actually cuts out with fifteen seconds remaining
on the play clock. When that happens, is it chaotic
on the field because you don't necessarily know is it
hand signals like how do you transition that? The few
times that it has happened to me? Um, one time
I had a backup quarterback doing it, and yeah, it
(15:52):
was chaos. It was like, dude, guys, I'm not hearing
I'm not hearing the sideline, you know, and then you know,
commer heads kind of you know happened. I think we
had our Nez battle. He was one of our slot receivers.
It was a third down. He kind of had one
of his favorite lads. He was able to kind of
help the quarterback out. But at the end of the day,
everybody knows the game plan, and the quarterback should be
prepared enough so that let's say it's a third down
(16:14):
or let's say it's a second down and six or whatever,
they know the game plans. They should know the game
plans so well that the it should be a play
that they should have in the back of their mind
to go to. You know, we did an episode on
instant replay. People always talk about lengthening the game, the
fact that things are more streamlined, Like we don't see
teams huddle a whole lot, right, Like it almost feel
(16:34):
like it's almost a good thing that there's a little
bit more efficiency now in terms of the communication, the
play calling, and what we're seeing in today's game. It's
a great thing because again, a quarterback can kind of
be at the line of scrimmage. The whole offensive line
can be at the line of scrimmage. Just think guys
are playing let me call it play double wing right,
quick as right to twelve flat. I mean, in that
(16:56):
entire play, the offensive line, all they need to hear
is quick as right. They don't care about everything else.
And that play, all the wide receivers need to hear
is to twelve a flat. They don't need to hear
the other part. You see what I'm saying. And so
the fact that we're able to streamline the communication, it
helps everybody play a little bit faster. Was that your
favorite play? It was one of so it's like, yeah,
(17:17):
it was one of those flats, and it was actually
I was always cool. Another cool, smart, cool little story.
I was always the emergency quarterback, so on during walkthroughs
on Saturdays, I would always take the walkthroughs and I
would always you know, call my plays and stuff like that.
So I was pretty dope with that. That was a
three step game. And then on game day I always
had a backup helmet that had the radio system just
(17:39):
in case the first two quarterbacks went downright, did you
be honest when you kind of hope not that you
didn't ever want to see someone at her? And that's
how I needed to go down right. I wanted to
throw some passes. Okay. Oh man. It was in San Francisco.
One year Alex was hurt, Sean Hill was hurt. We
brought in Chris Winky Like Wednesday, Chris was gray hair
(18:03):
and every day was old and Chris Early could take
a snap. I remember on that Wednesday office according to
looking at me like, Mike, dude, you're probably gonna play
this week. I'll pumped for you. I was like, let's
just go. Bro. I when waiting for this, I was
a housman final as I was trying to put to
(18:23):
my own horn. He got himself straight and whatever, but
that wee can practice you. I called some plays, I
ran my two minute drill. I was a little pumped up.
All right, Uh, still more to come here. When we
come back, we'll talk about exactly how much smaller shoulder
pads have become and look at some other important trends
for equipment that have come and gone. You don't want
to miss it. Welcome back to NFL. Explain Super Bowl Champ,
(18:53):
m Rob Mike cam with you. Uh, big pad, small
pad guy? So again it was I was like in
between because I played a big guy position. But yet
I was cool though because I used to play quarterback too,
so I wanted the small pads. But I did have
a baby neck. Roll was a baby one man. So
it didn't go out my pets. It was still inside
my jersey. But you still saw it. But it didn't
look like crazy what I'm saying. No, I'm with you,
(19:15):
you know, stylistically, I'm we're gonna bring this back to broadcasters.
You know, back in the day, the suits had the
shoulder pads dealing. Yeah, man, you can't that. They don't
look good anymore. I can see you in shoulders. What
are you talking? You know how much I work out
on the traps here, Like, I don't need shoulders pads?
What are you talking about? That was actually my first suits,
(19:37):
Like when I got into broadcast, had the shoulder pads.
It looks so much more Jack, Now, I don't even
need the damn pads. You can. I mean, I don't
want any of that stuff. Um. Shoulder pads, though, obviously,
are really significant and in sort of iconic, just like
the helmets. It's a big differentiator in our sport compared
to the other ones. But let's take a trip back
to the nineteen twenties where we're all about like these
flashbacks here players actually first started wearing shoulder pads, but
(19:59):
they were actually made out of felt full and leather,
wool and leather. Yeah, but think about that, right, Like
had the helmets that were leather, so they were probably
like I'm thinking, like cow, I don't wanna tell you
what I'm thinking, but like it's funny. Yeah, turn Off
was my coach, right, you do know that, right, great
coach of all time. Um Joe used to always say
(20:23):
football got dangerous when you took the leather helmets off.
We had less so to pass. Guys, trust me, you're
not gonna run into another human being knowing you're gonna
feel all of that. You know what I'm saying. He
was like, you want to take the head out of football,
put leather helmets on. That was always his vote. No wonder,
you're such a big proponent for flag football. So come
on full circle here. So once again, this is what
(20:47):
we're talking about. Like cloth and leather in the nineteen
twenties for pads, by the nineteen sixties we actually moved
from the hardened leather to fiber shell to plastic. The
plastic shoulder pads were actually expanded in size so much
in the eighties and nineties guys probably even had problems
right like walking through like doors you kind of to
give too damn bit they were way too big. I
(21:09):
just remember Levon Kirkland, the middle linebacker back in the day.
I remember saying, dude, that's the National Football League. Those
are the linebackers that are coming to hit me. Oh man, yeah,
show the pass with you. How much do you think
the slimmer pads actually helps some of the more athletic
players that we see now. Oh man, they're they're everything.
I play with A guy Michael Bennett It's like Michael
(21:29):
Bennett didn't even have pads. Mike b would tell you, Mike,
I wish I just didn't have pads. Just put me
into jersey in a helmet and I'll be fine. But
I just think what's happening now is the rules of
the game. I'm making the game safer. We're starting to
not eliminate, but we're limiting the high impact collisions, and
so smaller pads help guys move better, move faster, a
(21:53):
little bit more limber, have a little bit more flexibility.
And to me, it's making the game safer because guys
don't have to be so big and and and the
pads of smallest, so they don't think mentally they could
just running the guy's full speed. You have to think
before you make tackles and blocks. Uh. You're probably right
about that. And I'm hearing Joe Paterno giving you that advice,
telling you when the game got more dangerous because of
(22:15):
the pads. But I think what you're describing to me
makes a lot of sense. Another piece of equipment that's
actually decreased in size, and in some cases you don't
even see it. That's the thigh and the knee pads.
That's always wild to me. Ever, get when you were
in elementary school that like your boy would come up
to you and give you the dead leg, you know,
like knee and the side by the way. Now now
I actually pay someone basically to do that. Every week
(22:36):
I go to the chiropractice. I'm like, oh my god,
this hurts so bad. It's crazy. But that's kind of
a thing now. Um, they were actually originally the knee
and the thigh pads originally plastic, but they've transformed softer,
more flexible material. Prior to players had the option of
not wearing them, but then they became mandatory. Nevertheless, the
(22:58):
slimming of the pads has made the overall profile the
players a whole lot sleeker. All right. So another thing
that's sort of changed time is jerseys. And you and
I both know jerseys is how we identify dudes. There
is extremely popular. You go to any NFL stadium and
you just see a sea of jerseys, you know, people
just rocking them for their favorite players. Um, back in
(23:19):
the day, wool and cotton jerseys, Man, you might as
well do like, what's the what's the fabric with the
potato sack deal? You know, like the real you know
what I'm talking about, and then you go and go, whoa,
You might as well just burlap. Is that what it is? Um?
Now fans know it's it's polyester, it's mesh. They're a
(23:41):
little bit more fitted, harder to grab on. I've heard
some stories over the years, like you grease yourself up
a little bit vassaline, whatever the case may be. You
like you were so fat, you don't really worry about
that stuff. But any any sort of tricks that you
have come across in your time, Guys just trying to
get away with things. Now you're can I not call out?
(24:04):
Who can I not call out? I know? UM and
cold weather games, you know, guys putting the vassoline and
stuff all over their arms and stuff like that. You
put the handwarmers and the toes and the feet of
your cleats and stuff like that. I know for me,
I used Michael Vick when I was coming out of college.
(24:24):
Was the guy, you know what I'm saying. I was
a quarterback in Virginia. He was from Virginia. I wanted
my jersey when I played quarterback to look exactly like
how Michael Vick's jersey was cut, but biologically my arms
wasn't as long as here, so it restricted me from
throwing the football. So I would always get my jerseys
really really tight, even when I played full back. But
they were so tight I would have to cut them
underneath the arms because it would literally cut my armpit.
(24:47):
I would have scars from the jersey cutting and digging
into my I wasn't wasn't who it was just so tight. Um.
But yeah, man, that's kind of my things I did
with my jersey. All right, Welcome back to the NFL
(25:09):
Explained podcasts. Mike Yam and Rob with you. All right, So,
anyone who please or played football knows when you're wearing gloves,
they have changed dramatically. I've worked with enough wide receivers
in my career and they'll tell you they watched some
catches like yo, man, stick them. That's that's all I
have that back in my day, No more stick on.
(25:32):
We got gloves, which basically here's where I'm gonna go
with this. So justin Jefferson, a couple of weeks ago,
you told me on Total Acts the greatest it was.
It was really remarkable. Um, I don't know if he
does he does he grab that. I think so, Okay,
I look at the O'Dell catches more of a glove
thing because of the way the ball was coming down.
(25:53):
I'm not I think O'Dell was one of the most
adamic receivers ever played this game. I just look at
the way justin Jefferson's catch was it. His was more
of the ball in the palm of his hand, the
defender helping him to catch the football a little bit.
That's why I think it was less gloves. Okay, So
I throw this your way because players, like I said,
back in the day, used to use like stickum, let's
(26:15):
put some paste, a little air sault, anything to get
a little bit of like friction on the gloves to
make it easier. All that stuff. By the way, band in,
But how about this, Jerry Rice is like, I'll take
your band and you can put it where you're not
supposed to put things. So you know what I'm saying.
Jerry Rice used to say like he would use stick
hum like He's like, so the coat, actually, seriously do
(26:39):
what you need to do. So I don't know if
anyone was actually checking the goats gloves, but what I
do know is there is a team that checks every
single game your uniforms. In fact, I'm very well aware
of this here at NFL Network. Steve Mariuchi and I
are lockermates mooch. Every time I see him on a Monday,
he will show me pictures that he takes of guys
(27:01):
and uniforms. He is so he is like a stickler
for this ugly they gotta do it right. He gets
really upset about I used to know. I know in
in Seattle, I used to know who our guy was.
It is the same guy because he lives in the
area and every game coming out he knew, but he
had it was part of his job. He had to
(27:22):
remind me. Mike got a change of cleats because cleats
have to have I think a certain percentage of the
home colors of who. I don't know. It's a bunch
of different rules. And I would always say, Bro, you
already know I'm gonna change, but I gotta look fresh
for the warm ups. Man, I'll change. But if you
come back out there with those cleats, he's sitting there
looking at you. He's gonna he's gonna write you up.
(27:43):
He'll find you. So there are actually sixty four NFL
employees that monitor uniforms and equipment each game. You've gotta
be up to code here. League Operations manual states all
players must tuck in their jerseys. They cannot wear bandannas.
Stockings must be white from the top of the shoot
to midcalf, and an approved team color from midcalf to
the bottom of the pant leg, which must be pulled
(28:06):
down below the knees. That's actually the below the needst thing.
That's what gets mood like on another level. And well
he gets so mad at that. It's ridiculous. The white
never goes up halfway A lot of times, guys for
black socks up there. I mean it's players cannot wear
headgear or any other equipment or apparel that, in the
opinion of the uniform inspector or the referee, may confuse
(28:29):
an opponent because its color is similar to a football.
Only logos or brands from the league's official partners can
be displayed. Players may wear other brands as long as
they remove or cover the name on the logo. Hello.
I remember when under Armour was first coming out. I
was coming into the league at the time, and the
founders went to the University of Maryland, and they were
(28:52):
trying to get guys to be a part of their
group and they weren't league. They weren't approved yet. And
I'm in Vernon Davis on my team with the San
Francesco before and now is every single game he had
to cover the logo up, he had to take the
cleats up. He didn't want tape the cleats. He wanted
to show the cleats off, but they weren't approved yet. Wow,
did you get any paper from those dudes? Dudes? I
(29:13):
want some paper from him all day right now, exactly,
don't matter if or not I'm ready to get paid. UH.
Fines for equipment violations can actually add up for foreign
substances on the body of your uniform five k for
the first offense. The same goes for an unapproved visor tent,
and over ten thou dollars for writing personal messages or
(29:34):
wearing unauthorized logos, branding or intellectual property. It's a ton
to keep track of um any and he finds any
of your former teammates or friends that you can think
of that just said, screw it. I'll pay the fine
every single weekend. It keeps going up. Didn't care, you
know best? Moo wear gold cleats. He wear Beastmo brand stuff.
None of that stuff was approved. He said, here's a check.
(29:57):
When the years over, whatever the fines were, just write
the number right there, I'm gonna pay. I mean, that's
the way it is. But again, his beast More brand
made in the back end. It's a good point. I
feel like the equipment manager has a lot of pressure
on them. Oh. First of all, the equipment manager in
every football building, all thirty two buildings around this country,
(30:20):
are the most popular people in the building. They help
us get our cleats. They helped us connect with the
brand reps, with the Nike reps to reb I mean
they do everything. Oftentimes. Oftentimes team meetings, unofficial team player
meetings are in the equipment manager's office. That's just where
(30:42):
guys hang out. That's where guys have a coffee, that's
where guys have their lunch. I mean, the equipment manager
is the guy man I love e k shout out
the e k Um. You mentioned neck rolls a little
bit earlier in this edition for you. Was it just
like straight intimidation factor, No, it wasn't. I had a
stinger issue. I used always get stingers and when I
(31:03):
went to my Cairo practor and up telling me like,
you're nex supposed to have like a curve, like a
question mark. So my neck. The reason why I was
getting a lot of stingers is because I was absorbing
my neck with a little bit more straight and then
have the spring. Well. I used to have to wear
this brace twenty minutes a day just to correct the
curve in my neck. And actually I advise a lot
(31:25):
of fullbacks currently in the National Football League. A lot
of guys call me hit me up in box. He Mike,
I'm getting stingers. I'm getting this from my neck or whatever.
I showed them the device I have, and a lot
of them get it in the stingers go away. So
it's interesting. Recently I've seen this happened. Actually, tell a
rap I got to know a little bit of place
for the rams now he went to Washington. I used
to cover them, and I saw him post this on
(31:45):
social media, and then I realized, like, this is becoming
a thing. And it's not a neck roll of sorts.
It's actually called the Q collar. It's a lot smaller,
but it applies light pressure to the neck and the
collar increases blood volume in the head, providing extra cushion
for the brain during impacts. And I'm thinking to myself,
I'm like looking at some of the descriptions, is that
really say, well, the FDA actually approved this thing in
(32:08):
a ton of players use it. Tony Pollard certainly comes
to mind. Shaq Thompson. I mentioned Taylor app already. In addition,
four NFL teams, along with eight D one teams, actually
have mouth guards featuring sensors that gather data for analysis
of the frequency and severity of a lot of the
impacts not only during the games, but also during practices.
That's actually part of the NFL sixty million dollar commitment
(32:31):
to try to help promote health and safety for a
lot of the players. Like I know, you're not surprised
hearing about something that's ingenious. I was part of a
group that was trying to develop a mouthpiece like that
about five or six years ago. Just think about if
a player knew exactly the content of his lava or
whatever when he's healthy and he's fully hydrated, and then
(32:52):
going through practice and knowing exactly how much water you
need to drink, how many electrolights you need. I mean,
what an advantage for an athlete. So Yeah, kudos for
the National Football League into those college programs using the program.
Anything else that you want to see it wise that
might be helpful for you. Anything else I want to
see equipment wise, because now it's like GPS, monitors at
practice tracking, you know, sleep, all of that. Like I
(33:15):
feel like heart rate, a lot of this stuff is
already available. I don't know if you want to see
anything taken to another level or not. It's tough. I mean,
I think you know the people in our sport, they've
thought of everything. I think now it's just about improving
the technology that we already have and making the technology
so that it's not an all encompassing thing. Meaning you
and are different. Yes you can have the same test
(33:38):
on both of us, but understanding that we're different people
than maybe you know, an answer for you may not
always be the same answer for myself. Really fascinating to
hear about a lot of this stuff with equipment. Really
appreciate that guy that shot me a d M sparked
this entire episode. I know, I promise because we keep
getting some of these dms. You can hit me up
(33:59):
at Mike Underscore m You can follow Mike rob and
a real mic Rob because he's not gonna answer you
at DMS. I will, I promise, UM, but we're going
to continue. I'm telling you, guys, I get the d
m S, screenshot it, I send it to our entire
team and Robs on there. I usually fire off the emoji.
If we don't get to it in our next mail
bag edition, we're going to do exactly what we just did,
which is take your question and make it a whole episode.
(34:22):
Really appreciate you guys listening. Tell your friends about NFL
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