0:06

NFL Explained is a production of the NFL

0:08

in partnership with I Heart Radio.

0:17

I was watching one of your I G stories. Hey,

0:19

beautiful people. Yes, that's not bad,

0:22

right, I'm trying to I'm trying to bring

0:24

I'm trying to bring it like m Rob Yeah

0:26

with you. It's NFL Explained. It is a brand

0:28

new edition of the show. You

0:30

know the feedback that we've been getting

0:33

on our mail bag episode and it's been pretty good,

0:35

pretty positive. So my

0:37

d ms have been I keep

0:39

getting more and more questions and that's what And

0:43

I had someone and this is my badge for anyone

0:46

who sent me a message, and I was like, hey, we're gonna work it

0:48

in. And we didn't work it in because someone hit

0:50

me up and was like, yeah, I didn't hear my question. And

0:52

I was like, all right, my bad. So we got so

0:54

many of them that we're actually going and I promise we're

0:56

going to get to all the questions. So if you did submit

0:58

one to me and I respond, because I do

1:00

respond to everyone, trust me, we'll get to those. But

1:03

what we're trying to do is actually take some of the questions

1:05

and get a full episode, which is exactly what

1:07

this episode is all about. A deep

1:09

dive into equipment in the NFL,

1:12

and for me, I'm robbed. I guess I would start because

1:14

like you and I, I'll still say we're kind of young.

1:16

We're still kind of young man. So

1:20

we we had you had. I shouldn't say we

1:22

like you had the benefit of having

1:24

a lot of modern technology. But anything

1:26

that comes to mind that either you wish you

1:28

did have or dudes when

1:31

you were playing that we're older, said,

1:33

man, you like back in my day we

1:35

had to walk like

1:38

one of those types of moments. Anything resonate.

1:40

Um. I guess everybody

1:42

remembers, you know, Brian Cox, the big

1:44

neck roll or whatever. I played fullback, right,

1:46

and so I used to get a lot of stingers in my

1:49

day, and so yeah, neck roll. I had

1:51

the little little nub. It's like a little nub

1:53

that kind of goes over your name plate. It

1:55

doesn't go outside of your jersey.

1:58

So I didn't look like a super big guy,

2:00

but I still looked strong and dominant. You

2:02

still wanted to look of a fullback and I

2:04

was. I was. I could have worn the vicest

2:07

helmet. It's one of the safest helmets on the market right

2:09

now. It's expensive. But just the

2:11

technology of the glancing blow. I mean I

2:13

had an air helmet, and a lot of our football

2:15

enthusiasts know exactly with that is

2:17

the only thing it had was you just had a couple

2:20

of holes, one at the top, one in the back, and

2:22

you just had to pump air in it when you needed some air,

2:24

and you went on about your business. I've talked

2:26

to it a couple of guys that played well

2:28

before you too, and they would tell me that

2:30

the shift in helmets actually was something

2:33

that they felt was in some ways more

2:35

safe, in other ways like not as comfortable

2:37

either, which surprised me because some of these dudes

2:39

were like to throw back, like you know, the really really

2:41

thick padding on the inside, and I'll

2:43

say, you're a secret Yeah all right, look man,

2:45

alright, this is between me and you, no

2:50

one, all right. So that was

2:52

two thousand to two thousand three, maybe

2:55

two thousand four. I was at Penn State. We all had

2:57

the air helmets. It was nice and cool. Um

2:59

I got knocked State.

3:02

You didn't know that. Um I got knocked

3:04

out. We were playing the Wisconsin

3:06

Badger's Erasmus James unblocked

3:08

first round pick hit me boom knocked

3:11

out right. I was out for a few weeks, and

3:13

I remember coach Paterno saying, hey,

3:16

rapits and you want to ride most explosive players,

3:18

but you can't wear that air helmet anymore.

3:21

And I'm like, Joe, what

3:23

the hell you made? I can't wear my air helmet.

3:25

This is all I've known. I've won an air helmet

3:28

since I was probably eleven years old, not the

3:30

same one, but I've worned that brand

3:32

of a helmet. He and he,

3:34

he made a mandate for me to go back in the game. I had

3:36

to wear the newer At that time, it was

3:38

a short helmet, it was big. It

3:40

looked like I had an extra played on top. And

3:43

I had the biggest helmet in all of college football.

3:45

I mean literally, I was the laughing stock. I

3:48

just looked like a bobblehead. But that was

3:50

the only way I could in Yams. I

3:52

have a big hit. I can say

3:54

that because I do have a big head, right, And

3:57

so my helmet was already a large, extra

3:59

large. I had big pads, large if I had smaller

4:01

pads. And now I had this extra,

4:04

this extra piece on my helmet,

4:06

and yeah, I was laughing stock in my locker room

4:08

for a little bit, but um I was safe

4:11

and uh yeah, man Bobblehead at

4:13

quarterback got it done.

4:15

Though, I'm I'm envisioning

4:17

like the shaking little bobble head

4:19

running around. It was so big. I hated it,

4:21

but it did protect me. I can't lie. It was lighter,

4:24

it felt better, and it took me a while to get

4:26

used to it. But yeah, alright, So

4:28

I think it's probably a pretty good place to start,

4:30

because I think when you talk about NFL football,

4:32

one of the first things in equipment, one of the first things you think

4:35

about is certainly the helmet, because

4:37

it has definitely evolved throughout

4:39

the years, and a lot of that has to do with what Emrod

4:41

was just talking about, which is player health and safety.

4:43

But we gotta go all the way back, all the way back

4:45

to the beginning nineteen seventeen,

4:48

seventy one, seven one

4:50

seven, So that's the ways to years

4:54

ago. Yeah, very different. University

4:56

of Illinois head coach Bob Zupkey.

4:59

He designed the first leather helmets

5:02

that the NFL used when the league first started.

5:04

A couple of years later in nine team twenty. Really

5:06

very protective leather

5:09

helmets. Joe Paterno used to tell me after

5:11

his high school games, they used to fold up their

5:13

helmet and put it in their back pocket. I'm to

5:15

tell you, man, I'm

5:18

sorry I had to say that. Can you imagine

5:20

knowing someone who like actually went and did

5:22

that, You know what I mean? I mean, I can't.

5:24

I mean he used to tell a story about Vince Lombardi

5:27

playing against him in high school and he

5:29

used to fold up their helmet, like, dude.

5:31

The stories were crazy, especially when he has some jim

5:36

to mount Rushmore. You start thinking about those dude

5:38

with the leather helmet, the mount Rushmore of

5:40

some of these players um nineteen

5:42

thirties actually brought the first

5:44

iterations of the face mask and plastic

5:47

helmets. Although those face masks weren't actually

5:49

all that popular, the

5:52

NFL mandated the use of helmets

5:54

rams running back Fred Gurkey.

5:57

He would subsequently give the NFL it's

5:59

first logo when he paid in horns

6:01

on his own helmet for game in nineteen

6:04

seven. By the way, can you imagine

6:06

a dude right now, like we're getting into like uniform

6:08

rules, like you can't do stuff like that. You

6:10

can't do anything. You're kidding

6:13

me, man, Hell with this, I don't got nothing on my helmet.

6:15

Let me just paint something on it,

6:18

like, which is kind of cool, by the way,

6:20

really cool side hustle for Gurky.

6:22

He ended up painting seventy five rams helmets.

6:25

He was paid a dollar each. World

6:30

couldn't have work today. Seven

6:34

bucks would have gone. Yeah,

6:37

to tell me stories about like, you know, the forties,

6:39

like with like a buck for a helmet, man,

6:42

Like that's not that bad. None cost a dollar

6:44

now, No, nothing in the dollar store

6:46

still cost a dollar. Nineteen fifties,

6:49

A single bar face mask invented

6:51

by Cleveland's coach Paul Brown,

6:53

who had an equipment manager actually fashion

6:56

one to a helmet order to keep his quarterback

6:58

autogram in the game after he took

7:00

a shot to the face. We'll hear more about

7:02

what Paul Brown also did, really

7:04

a savvy invent a little bit later here on

7:07

this episode. But the single bar eventually became

7:09

a little bit of a fashion ful pod in the league.

7:11

Not you wouldn't be caught. You don't

7:14

want just the one bar, man, I mean

7:16

I don't know. I mean I've seen some kickers get

7:18

away with it. But you don't want the one Barlbo

7:21

with the one bar Mike like that would always

7:23

for me. But like somebody get just punched

7:25

you in your face, man, Like this

7:27

just happened. It's right there. So last

7:30

dude to actually go with the single Joe

7:32

Timan and that crazy by the way,

7:34

we did a thing on NFL network was like a football

7:36

life and I guess that he they

7:39

changed the pronunciation. He recognizes

7:41

it, but he used to be feasman that

7:44

I didn't even know that because I'm like, damn, why they're saying

7:46

his name wrong? Because I caught it like halfway into the episode.

7:49

What is going on? So he told me that story at

7:51

his restaurant one time we had a

7:53

scheduled release show there that he

7:55

made me pay for the dinner. I gotta get at

7:57

you, Joe. So yeah, by

7:59

the and keep in mind, I mean for for

8:01

thim, a quarterback, to be doing that kind of

8:04

unique here, because he was the last non kicker

8:06

to wear these single bar across

8:09

the face mask nineteen sixty two. Though all

8:11

players were face masks in the latter part

8:13

of that decade, crossbar actually adopted

8:15

better protection around the face and the nose

8:18

By the nineteen seventies, the full mask really

8:20

began to catch on, and then we get

8:22

to the nineteen nineties. By the way, we talk about the nineties

8:25

like it was a long time ago, Like I feel like the

8:27

nineties was a few years ago, But it was.

8:30

It

8:30

was just

8:34

a little bit, yeah, a little tread on my tires, I'll tell

8:36

you. Nineties come around, the helmet started

8:38

to become more complex, little different

8:40

pieces of equipment. It weighed about three

8:42

pounds and had more state of the art padding.

8:45

The newest helmet technology has added

8:47

things like helmet inserts that are actually molded

8:49

to each individual head, and also better

8:52

ways to absorb and redirect energy

8:54

from contact. You tell me, because I've actually

8:56

I mean I've put it on for fun, but I've never worn one in

8:58

the game, and the ones that I've thrown on or not specific

9:01

for me comfortable generally

9:03

speaking, Well, I mean, you

9:06

gotta redefine what your definition of comfort

9:08

is. You know what I'm saying, Uh, yeah, you

9:10

want it comfortable, you want it. So that's

9:12

not a lot of moving a lot not a lot of movement

9:15

in the helmet. I know for me, any

9:17

time I put a new helmet on a helmet

9:19

on for the first time in a while. Yeah,

9:21

it's like you notice all the things

9:24

that's in your vision, like if you have bars

9:26

up, if you have bars kind of on the side. You

9:28

know, you just notice the stuff. And

9:30

for me, it did take a little time just to

9:33

kind of get yourself oriented in the helmet.

9:35

And I mean again, it's like riding a bike. Once you've done

9:37

it before, you get used to it. But for me,

9:39

I always needed to have the

9:42

top part of the eyes, part of the face

9:45

masks unencombered. I didn't I couldn't have a lot

9:47

of bars in front of it because I

9:49

always stood up at the fullback position

9:51

so that I can see just like the runner

9:53

can see, so I can be his eyes. And

9:56

sometimes if it was a bar right there,

9:58

it would trick me into thinking it was an actual

10:00

person, and it would it would mess me.

10:02

It would mess me up in my spatial awareness. How

10:04

many how much do you go through during the course of the season.

10:06

It depends. So when I played quarterback,

10:09

only one, you know, when I played tailback,

10:11

maybe two fullback, especially

10:13

my last year we when we won our Super Bowl, I went

10:15

through five helmets, face masks,

10:18

breaking just all the collisions,

10:20

um and then special teams that that's when kickoff

10:23

was really running down there kickoff. So yeah, I

10:25

went through five helmets that last year. I

10:27

still have them all to So do you like, I

10:30

mean, it's that's your helmet, Like is that the

10:32

one thing? Because we were talking about cleats right

10:35

in our Mailbag episode last week,

10:37

and like some dudes like Russell Wilson, yo where once.

10:39

So that's it. It's a rap for him, the

10:41

helmet, like I would imagine because you're telling

10:43

me, hey, when you're playing quarterback, it was one like you

10:46

it's like your piece of equipment.

10:49

It's yours, man. And like even when I played

10:51

for San Francisco and then I went over to Seattle,

10:54

you know, I brought my helmet with me. You know, they repaying

10:56

it, They red they redid it up, because again,

10:58

it is a personal thing, and a lot of

11:00

times, especially the older helmets,

11:02

they would you know kind of like get

11:04

worn kind of and mold it kind of to

11:06

your head, and you just get used to those times.

11:09

So you took them like I took him

11:11

with me. I took my shoulder pass with me. Everything.

11:13

Yeah, Like I know, I mean

11:16

I think Leonard four still has his LSU

11:18

should pass. Many of these guys

11:21

are some of his superstitions. Some of it is

11:23

just being comfortable with the equipment, and

11:25

some guys just like, oh no, man, I've won

11:27

this many games and this I ain't changed and this

11:30

is what it is. I had no idea

11:32

about that. I did mention Paul Brown a little

11:34

earlier about the helmets and the whole thing. Another

11:36

huge contribution to helmet technology,

11:39

not knowing people have realized this. But let's go back

11:42

thinkteen fifty six. Brown was actually approached

11:44

by two Cleveland fans who happened

11:46

to be inventors and thought they could help

11:48

the coach find a new way to communicate with

11:51

his quarterback via radio

11:53

signal. Here's what the legend here, here's how it

11:55

goes. You got two dudes, John Campbell

11:57

and George Claris. They began testing

12:00

the equipment in the woods near one of their

12:02

homes. Which what good happens in

12:04

the woods? You know what I'm saying. Watched

12:06

a whole lot of Dateline recently after

12:09

it interviewed the radio signal with

12:11

the police officer driving by. The cop was like, yo,

12:13

what's going on? Questioned the two

12:16

dudes like they found him and was like, yo, like what's

12:18

going on here? Here's the deal. Though the

12:20

cop was a Browns fan and said, oh, you know what

12:23

you know, you keep rolling in the woods. You do whatever

12:25

you want to do in the woods, and

12:28

then here we go. So uh. Cleveland

12:30

quarterback George Ratterman was the first to wear

12:32

the radio helmet, but the opponents at the

12:34

time where the Lions. They got a little suspicious

12:36

when they saw a transmitter on the sideline.

12:39

Then NFL Commissioner Bell banned the

12:41

new system, which didn't return until when

12:44

the technology obviously dramatically improved.

12:47

Was that seventy

12:54

when they finally started using it. That

12:57

is crazy, man. What's the craziest part

12:59

that the fact that there was that much of a gap or the cop

13:01

was like, yo, you do whatever you want in the woods. Oh

13:04

man, I already know man, fans, you

13:06

know what I'm saying. We're here,

13:08

man, I get it. But that

13:11

long, I would have just all the great

13:14

minds of the National Football and you just would

13:16

have thought that this idea would have came

13:18

up a little bit faster, you would think. But

13:20

like I also, it's a product

13:23

of your environment and there's no disrespect. We

13:25

do a segment on total disrespect, and

13:29

so I go here. It is no disrespect. But I

13:31

wouldn't think Cleveland the

13:33

technology hub. I

13:36

mean, dude, I was in the Bay Area for like

13:39

almost a decade, so I think because

13:42

the ways, you know, but in the phase

13:44

right, like I know what, that's just

13:47

still that's me being young on this episode.

13:49

Okay, but it is

13:51

wild and it took a really long time for

13:54

the communication and the technology to improve,

13:56

and this is what has made for some interesting

13:59

developments on the football field. Now. In

14:01

fact, you are rules around these communications systems.

14:03

In fact, only two players on the field can

14:06

hear the sideline. That's the quarterback

14:08

and the defensive captain, who's generally a

14:10

linebacker. Those players are given the

14:12

green dots sticker on their helmet to

14:14

destinate which helmet has the communications

14:16

system in it. Only the sideline

14:18

can talk to the players with the headset. No

14:21

one from the booth actually didn't

14:23

realize that. I thought you could get some of that communication

14:25

from and it would be wired

14:27

that way, but that's not actually accurate to

14:29

me. That would be an unfair advantage because

14:31

you can see the field, Yeah, you can see the field. The vantage

14:34

point is is a little bit different. But

14:36

you know it's crazy, right Like all

14:39

this technology to me is a gift and occurs. We

14:41

all remember Jared Golf Sean

14:43

McVeigh and the stories that, Yeah, he

14:45

would kind of feed him the plays and talk to him,

14:47

and that's why they will run that hurry up offense

14:50

because with fifteen seconds left on the play clock,

14:52

that system cuts off and the quarterback can't

14:54

talk to the sideline anymore. And so Sean

14:57

McVeigh kind of figured out a loophole. Then you

14:59

go hurry up off and snap the ball before we get

15:01

the fifteen seconds. I can coach my quarterback through

15:03

the entire play and that's what was happening.

15:08

I think again, I think it's a gift and a curse man, because

15:10

at the end of the day, you want your quarterback

15:12

to be able to see the information and be able to

15:15

process the information and be able to come

15:17

up and develop his own answers

15:19

to the problem right there on the spot.

15:22

Sometimes that that that system can

15:24

you can develop a crutch when you're just waiting

15:27

on the play caller to feed you the information.

15:29

Sometimes I think you can get a little bit money so I'm

15:31

actually glad you brought that up. And and just to be clear

15:34

here, what I'm Robs talking about is the sideline

15:36

actually cuts out with fifteen seconds remaining

15:38

on the play clock. When that happens,

15:40

is it chaotic on the field because you don't necessarily

15:43

know is it hand signals like how do you transition that? The

15:45

few times that it has happened to me? Um,

15:49

one time I had a backup quarterback

15:51

doing it, and yeah, it was chaos. It was like, dude,

15:53

guys, I'm not hearing I'm not hearing the sideline,

15:56

you know, and then you know, commer heads kind

15:58

of you know happened. I think we had our

16:00

Nez battle. He was one of our slot receivers.

16:02

It was a third down. He kind of had one of

16:05

his favorite lads. He was able to kind of

16:07

help the quarterback out. But at the end of the day,

16:09

everybody knows the game plan, and the quarterback

16:11

should be prepared enough so that let's say

16:13

it's a third down or let's say it's a second down

16:15

and six or whatever, they know the game plans.

16:17

They should know the game plans so well that

16:20

the it should be a play that they should

16:22

have in the back of their mind to go to. You know, we did an

16:24

episode on instant replay. People always

16:26

talk about lengthening the game, the

16:29

fact that things are more streamlined, Like we

16:31

don't see teams huddle a whole lot, right, Like it

16:34

almost feel like it's almost a good thing that there's

16:36

a little bit more efficiency now in terms

16:38

of the communication, the play calling, and what we're seeing

16:40

in today's game. It's a great thing because

16:42

again, a quarterback can kind of be

16:44

at the line of scrimmage. The whole offensive

16:47

line can be at the line of scrimmage. Just think guys

16:49

are playing let me call it play

16:51

double wing right, quick as right to twelve flat.

16:54

I mean, in that entire play,

16:56

the offensive line, all they need to hear

16:58

is quick as right. They don't care about

17:01

everything else. And that play,

17:03

all the wide receivers need to hear is to twelve

17:05

a flat. They don't need to hear the other part. You see what

17:07

I'm saying. And so the fact that we're able

17:09

to streamline the communication, it helps

17:12

everybody play a little bit faster. Was that your

17:14

favorite play? It was one of so

17:16

it's like, yeah, it was one of those flats,

17:18

and it was actually I was always cool.

17:20

Another cool, smart, cool little story. I was always

17:22

the emergency quarterback, so on

17:25

during walkthroughs on Saturdays, I would always

17:27

take the walkthroughs and I would always you know,

17:29

call my plays and stuff like that. So I was pretty

17:31

dope with that. That was a three step game. And

17:33

then on game day I always had

17:36

a backup helmet that had the radio

17:38

system just in case the first

17:40

two quarterbacks went downright, did you

17:43

be honest when you kind of hope not that you didn't

17:45

ever want to see someone at her? And that's how I

17:48

needed to go down right. I wanted to throw some

17:50

passes. Okay. Oh

17:53

man. It was in San Francisco. One year Alex

17:55

was hurt, Sean Hill was hurt. We

17:57

brought in Chris Winky Like

18:00

Wednesday, Chris was gray

18:02

hair and every day was old and Chris

18:05

Early could take a snap. I remember on that Wednesday

18:09

office according to looking at me like, Mike, dude,

18:11

you're probably gonna play this week.

18:14

I'll pumped for you. I was like, let's

18:16

just go. Bro. I when

18:18

waiting for this, I was a housman

18:21

final as I was trying to put to

18:23

my own horn. He got himself straight and whatever,

18:25

but that wee can practice you. I called

18:27

some plays, I ran my two minute drill. I

18:30

was a little pumped up. All right, Uh, still

18:32

more to come here. When we come back, we'll

18:34

talk about exactly how much smaller

18:36

shoulder pads have become and look at some other

18:39

important trends for equipment

18:41

that have come and gone. You don't want to miss it.

18:50

Welcome back to NFL. Explain Super Bowl

18:52

Champ, m Rob Mike cam with you. Uh,

18:54

big pad, small pad guy? So again

18:57

it was I was like in between because I played a big

18:59

guy position. But yet I was cool though

19:01

because I used to play quarterback too, so I wanted the

19:03

small pads. But I did have a baby

19:06

neck. Roll was a baby one man. So it didn't

19:08

go out my pets. It was still inside

19:10

my jersey. But you still saw it. But it didn't

19:12

look like crazy what I'm saying. No, I'm

19:15

with you, you know, stylistically, I'm we're

19:17

gonna bring this back to broadcasters. You know, back in the

19:19

day, the suits had the shoulder pads dealing. Yeah,

19:21

man, you can't that. They don't look good anymore.

19:24

I can see you in shoulders. What are you talking?

19:26

You know how much I work out on the traps here, Like,

19:28

I don't need shoulders pads? What are

19:30

you talking about?

19:34

That was actually my first

19:36

suits, Like when I got into broadcast, had the

19:38

shoulder pads. It looks so much

19:40

more Jack, Now, I don't even need the damn pads.

19:42

You can. I mean, I don't want any of that stuff. Um.

19:45

Shoulder pads, though, obviously, are really

19:47

significant and in sort of iconic, just like the helmets.

19:50

It's a big differentiator in our sport compared

19:52

to the other ones. But let's take a trip back to the nineteen

19:54

twenties where we're all about like these flashbacks

19:56

here players actually first started wearing

19:58

shoulder pads, but they were actually made out of

20:01

felt full and leather, wool

20:03

and leather. Yeah, but think about that, right, Like had

20:05

the helmets that were leather, so they were probably like I'm

20:08

thinking, like cow, I don't wanna

20:10

tell you what I'm thinking, but like it's funny. Yeah,

20:15

turn Off was my coach, right, you do know

20:17

that, right, great coach of all time.

20:19

Um Joe used to always say

20:23

football got dangerous when you took the

20:26

leather helmets off. We had less so

20:28

to pass. Guys, trust me, you're not gonna

20:30

run into another human being knowing you're gonna feel

20:32

all of that. You know what I'm saying. He was like,

20:34

you want to take the head out of football, put leather

20:36

helmets on. That was always his vote.

20:38

No wonder, you're such a big proponent for flag football.

20:41

So come on full

20:45

circle here. So once again, this is

20:47

what we're talking about. Like cloth and leather

20:49

in the nineteen twenties for pads, by the

20:51

nineteen sixties we actually moved from the

20:54

hardened leather to fiber shell

20:56

to plastic. The plastic shoulder pads

20:58

were actually expanded in size so much

21:00

in the eighties and nineties guys probably even

21:02

had problems right like walking through like doors

21:05

you kind of to give too

21:07

damn bit they were way too big. I just

21:09

remember Levon Kirkland, the middle linebacker

21:11

back in the day. I remember saying,

21:14

dude, that's the National Football League.

21:16

Those are the linebackers that are coming to hit me. Oh

21:18

man, yeah, show the pass with you. How much do

21:20

you think the slimmer pads actually helps

21:22

some of the more athletic players that we see now.

21:25

Oh man, they're they're everything.

21:27

I play with A guy Michael Bennett It's like Michael Bennett

21:29

didn't even have pads. Mike b would

21:32

tell you, Mike, I wish I just

21:34

didn't have pads. Just put me into jersey in a

21:36

helmet and I'll be fine. But I just

21:38

think what's happening now is the

21:40

rules of the game. I'm making the game

21:42

safer. We're starting to not

21:44

eliminate, but we're limiting the

21:46

high impact collisions, and

21:48

so smaller pads help

21:51

guys move better, move faster, a

21:53

little bit more limber, have a little bit more flexibility.

21:56

And to me, it's making the game safer because

21:58

guys don't have to be so big

22:01

and and and the pads of smallest, so they don't

22:03

think mentally they could just running the guy's

22:05

full speed. You have to think before

22:07

you make tackles and blocks. Uh. You're

22:09

probably right about that. And I'm hearing Joe

22:11

Paterno giving you that advice, telling you when

22:13

the game got more dangerous because

22:15

of the pads. But I think what you're describing to me makes

22:18

a lot of sense. Another piece

22:20

of equipment that's actually decreased in size, and

22:22

in some cases you don't even see it. That's

22:24

the thigh and the knee pads. That's always

22:26

wild to me. Ever, get when you were in elementary school

22:28

that like your boy would come up to you and give you the dead leg,

22:31

you know, like knee and the side by

22:33

the way. Now now I actually pay someone basically

22:35

to do that. Every week I go to the chiropractice.

22:40

I'm like, oh my god, this hurts so

22:43

bad. It's crazy. But that's kind

22:45

of a thing now. Um, they were actually originally

22:47

the knee and the thigh pads originally plastic,

22:49

but they've transformed softer, more

22:51

flexible material. Prior to players

22:54

had the option of not wearing them, but then they became

22:57

mandatory. Nevertheless, the slimming

22:59

of the pads has made the overall profile

23:01

the players a whole lot sleeker. All

23:03

right. So another thing that's sort of changed time

23:06

is jerseys. And you and I both know jerseys

23:09

is how we identify dudes. There

23:11

is extremely popular. You go to any NFL stadium

23:14

and you just see a sea of jerseys, you

23:16

know, people just rocking them for their favorite players. Um,

23:18

back in the day, wool and cotton jerseys,

23:24

Man, you might as well do like, what's the what's the

23:26

fabric with the potato sack deal? You know,

23:28

like the real you

23:31

know what I'm talking about, and then you go and go, whoa,

23:34

You might as well just burlap. Is that what it

23:36

is? Um? Now fans

23:38

know it's it's polyester, it's

23:40

mesh. They're a little bit more fitted, harder

23:42

to grab on. I've heard some stories

23:45

over the years, like you grease yourself up a little

23:47

bit vassaline, whatever the case may

23:49

be. You like you were so fat, you don't really

23:51

worry about that stuff. But any any sort of

23:53

tricks that you have come across

23:55

in your time, Guys just trying to get away with things.

24:00

Now you're can I not call

24:03

out? Who can I not call out?

24:05

I know? UM and

24:08

cold weather games, you know, guys

24:10

putting the vassoline and stuff all over their

24:12

arms and stuff like that. You

24:14

put the handwarmers and the toes

24:16

and the feet of your cleats and stuff like that.

24:19

I know for me, I used Michael

24:22

Vick when I was coming out of college. Was

24:24

the guy, you know what I'm saying. I was a quarterback

24:26

in Virginia. He was from Virginia. I wanted

24:28

my jersey when I played quarterback to look

24:30

exactly like how Michael Vick's jersey

24:32

was cut, but biologically my arms

24:35

wasn't as long as here, so it restricted

24:37

me from throwing the football. So I would always get

24:39

my jerseys really really tight, even when I played full

24:41

back. But they were so tight I would have to

24:43

cut them underneath the arms because it would literally

24:45

cut my armpit. I would

24:47

have scars from the jersey

24:50

cutting and digging into my I

24:53

wasn't wasn't who it was

24:55

just so tight. Um. But yeah,

24:57

man, that's kind of my things

24:59

I did with my jersey.

25:08

All right, Welcome back to the NFL Explained podcasts.

25:10

Mike Yam and Rob with you. All right, So,

25:12

anyone who please or

25:14

played football knows when you're wearing

25:17

gloves, they have changed dramatically.

25:20

I've worked with enough wide receivers in my career and they'll

25:22

tell you they watched some catches like yo, man, stick

25:24

them. That's that's all I have that back

25:26

in my day,

25:31

No more stick on. We got gloves,

25:33

which basically here's where I'm gonna go

25:35

with this. So justin Jefferson, a couple of weeks

25:37

ago, you told me on Total Acts the greatest

25:41

it was. It was really remarkable. Um,

25:43

I don't know if he does he does he grab that. I

25:46

think so, Okay, I look at the O'Dell

25:49

catches more of a glove thing because of the

25:51

way the ball was coming down. I'm

25:54

not I think O'Dell was one of the most adamic

25:56

receivers ever played this game. I just look

25:58

at the way justin Jefferson's catch was

26:01

it. His was more of the ball in the

26:03

palm of his hand, the defender

26:06

helping him to catch the football a little bit. That's

26:08

why I think it was less gloves. Okay, So I

26:10

throw this your way because players, like I

26:12

said, back in the day, used to use like stickum,

26:15

let's put some paste, a little air sault,

26:17

anything to get

26:19

a little bit of like friction on

26:21

the gloves to make it easier. All that stuff. By the way,

26:23

band in, But how about this, Jerry Rice

26:26

is like, I'll take your band and you can

26:28

put it where you're not supposed to put things.

26:30

So you know what I'm saying. Jerry Rice

26:32

used to say like he would use stick hum

26:35

like He's like, so the coat, actually,

26:39

seriously do what you need to do. So I don't

26:41

know if anyone was actually checking the goats

26:43

gloves, but what I do know is there is a

26:45

team that checks every single

26:47

game your uniforms. In fact,

26:50

I'm very well aware of this here at NFL Network.

26:52

Steve Mariuchi and I are lockermates mooch.

26:55

Every time I see him on a Monday,

26:58

he will show me pictures that

27:00

he takes of guys and uniforms.

27:03

He is so he is like a stickler

27:05

for this ugly they gotta

27:07

do it right. He gets really upset about I used to

27:09

know. I know in in Seattle,

27:11

I used to know who our guy was. It

27:13

is the same guy because he lives in the area

27:16

and every game coming out he

27:20

knew, but he had it was part of his job.

27:22

He had to remind me. Mike

27:24

got a change of cleats because cleats

27:26

have to have I think a certain percentage

27:29

of the home colors of who. I don't know. It's

27:31

a bunch of different rules. And I would always say,

27:33

Bro, you already know I'm gonna change, but

27:35

I gotta look fresh for the warm ups.

27:37

Man, I'll change. But if you come back out

27:40

there with those cleats, he's sitting there looking

27:42

at you. He's gonna he's gonna write you up. He'll find

27:44

you. So there are actually sixty four

27:46

NFL employees that monitor uniforms

27:48

and equipment each game. You've gotta

27:51

be up to code here. League Operations

27:53

manual states all players

27:55

must tuck in their jerseys. They cannot wear bandannas.

27:57

Stockings must be white from the top

27:59

of the shoot to midcalf, and an approved

28:02

team color from midcalf to the bottom

28:04

of the pant leg, which must be

28:06

pulled down below the knees. That's actually

28:08

the below the needst thing. That's what gets mood like on

28:11

another level. And well he

28:13

gets so mad at that. It's ridiculous. The white

28:16

never goes up halfway A lot of times,

28:18

guys for black socks up there. I mean it's

28:22

players cannot wear headgear or any other equipment

28:24

or apparel that, in the opinion

28:26

of the uniform inspector or the referee,

28:28

may confuse an opponent because its

28:30

color is similar to a football. Only

28:33

logos or brands from the league's

28:35

official partners can be displayed. Players

28:37

may wear other brands as long as they remove

28:40

or cover the name on the logo. Hello.

28:43

I remember when under Armour

28:45

was first coming out. I was coming into the league

28:47

at the time, and the founders

28:49

went to the University of Maryland, and they

28:52

were trying to get guys to be a part

28:54

of their group and they weren't

28:56

league. They weren't approved yet. And I'm in

28:58

Vernon Davis on my team with the San Francesco before and now

29:00

is every single game he had to

29:02

cover the logo up, he had to take the cleats

29:05

up. He didn't want tape the cleats. He wanted to show

29:07

the cleats off, but they weren't approved yet.

29:09

Wow, did you get any paper from those dudes?

29:13

Dudes? I want some paper from him all

29:16

day right now, exactly, don't matter

29:18

if or not I'm ready

29:20

to get paid. UH. Fines

29:22

for equipment violations can actually add up

29:24

for foreign substances on the body of your uniform

29:27

five k for the first offense. The same goes

29:29

for an unapproved visor tent, and over

29:31

ten thou dollars for writing personal messages

29:34

or wearing unauthorized logos, branding

29:36

or intellectual property. It's a ton

29:38

to keep track of um

29:40

any and he finds any of your former

29:42

teammates or friends that you can think of that just said,

29:44

screw it. I'll pay the fine every single weekend. It keeps going

29:47

up. Didn't care,

29:49

you know best? Moo wear gold cleats. He

29:51

wear Beastmo brand stuff. None of that stuff

29:54

was approved. He said, here's a check.

29:57

When the years over, whatever the fines were,

29:59

just write the number right there, I'm gonna pay. I mean, that's

30:02

the way it is. But again, his beast

30:04

More brand made in the back end. It's a

30:06

good point. I

30:09

feel like the equipment manager has a lot of pressure

30:11

on them. Oh. First of all, the

30:13

equipment manager in every

30:16

football building, all thirty two

30:19

buildings around this country, are the

30:21

most popular people in

30:23

the building. They help us get our cleats.

30:26

They helped us connect with the brand reps,

30:28

with the Nike reps to reb I mean they

30:31

do everything. Oftentimes. Oftentimes

30:35

team meetings, unofficial team

30:38

player meetings are in the equipment

30:40

manager's office. That's

30:42

just where guys hang out. That's where guys

30:44

have a coffee, that's where guys have their lunch. I mean,

30:47

the equipment manager is the guy man

30:49

I love e k shout out the e k Um.

30:52

You mentioned neck rolls a little bit earlier in

30:55

this edition for you. Was it just like

30:57

straight intimidation factor, No, it wasn't.

31:00

I had a stinger issue. I used always get

31:02

stingers and when I went to

31:04

my Cairo practor and up telling

31:06

me like, you're nex supposed to have

31:08

like a curve, like a question mark.

31:11

So my neck. The reason why I was getting a lot

31:13

of stingers is because I was absorbing my

31:15

neck with a little bit more straight and then have the spring.

31:17

Well. I used to have to wear this brace twenty

31:20

minutes a day just to correct

31:22

the curve in my neck. And actually I

31:24

advise a lot of fullbacks currently in the National

31:26

Football League. A lot of guys call me hit me up

31:29

in box. He Mike, I'm getting stingers. I'm getting this from

31:31

my neck or whatever. I showed them the device

31:33

I have, and a lot of them get it in the

31:35

stingers go away. So it's interesting. Recently

31:37

I've seen this happened. Actually,

31:39

tell a rap I got to know a little bit of place for

31:41

the rams now he went to Washington. I used to cover them,

31:44

and I saw him post this on social media,

31:46

and then I realized, like, this is becoming a thing.

31:49

And it's not a neck roll of sorts. It's

31:51

actually called the Q collar. It's a lot

31:53

smaller, but it applies light pressure

31:55

to the neck and the collar increases blood

31:58

volume in the head, providing extra

32:00

cushion for the brain during impacts.

32:02

And I'm thinking to myself, I'm like looking at some of the descriptions,

32:05

is that really say, well, the FDA actually approved

32:07

this thing in a ton of players

32:10

use it. Tony Pollard certainly comes to

32:12

mind. Shaq Thompson. I mentioned Taylor app

32:14

already. In addition, four NFL teams,

32:16

along with eight D one teams, actually have mouth

32:18

guards featuring sensors that gather data

32:21

for analysis of the frequency

32:23

and severity of a lot of the impacts not

32:25

only during the games, but also during

32:27

practices. That's actually part of the NFL sixty

32:30

million dollar commitment to try to help promote

32:32

health and safety for a lot of the players.

32:35

Like I know, you're not surprised hearing about something that's ingenious.

32:38

I was part of a group that was trying

32:40

to develop a mouthpiece like that about five or

32:42

six years ago. Just think about if

32:44

a player knew exactly the

32:46

content of his lava or whatever when

32:49

he's healthy and he's fully hydrated,

32:52

and then going through practice and knowing exactly

32:54

how much water you need to drink, how many electrolights

32:57

you need. I mean, what an advantage for

32:59

an athlete. So Yeah, kudos for the National

33:01

Football League into those college programs using

33:03

the program. Anything else that you want to see

33:05

it wise that might be helpful for

33:07

you. Anything else I want to see equipment wise,

33:10

because now it's like GPS, monitors at practice

33:12

tracking, you know, sleep, all

33:15

of that. Like I feel like heart rate, a lot

33:17

of this stuff is already available. I don't know

33:19

if you want to see anything taken to another level or

33:21

not. It's tough. I mean, I think you

33:23

know the people in our sport, they've thought of everything.

33:26

I think now it's just about improving the technology

33:28

that we already have and making

33:31

the technology so that it's not an

33:33

all encompassing thing. Meaning you and are

33:35

different. Yes you can have the same

33:38

test on both of us, but understanding that we're

33:40

different people than maybe you

33:42

know, an answer for you may not always be the same

33:44

answer for myself. Really fascinating

33:47

to hear about a lot of this stuff with

33:49

equipment. Really appreciate that guy

33:51

that shot me a d M sparked

33:54

this entire episode. I know, I

33:56

promise because we keep getting some of these dms. You

33:58

can hit me up at Mike Underscore m

34:00

You can follow Mike rob and a real

34:03

mic Rob because he's not gonna answer you at DMS.

34:05

I will, I promise, UM, but we're

34:07

going to continue. I'm telling you, guys, I get

34:09

the d m S, screenshot it, I send it to our entire

34:11

team and Robs on there. I usually fire off

34:14

the emoji. If we don't get to it

34:16

in our next mail bag edition, we're going to do exactly

34:18

what we just did, which is take your question and make

34:20

it a whole episode. Really appreciate

34:22

you guys listening. Tell your friends about NFL

34:25

explained