Next week, National Football League team owners will vote on a proposal to ban players from having hair flow from their helmets below their names on the back of their jerseys. Izzy can imagine why some players want their hair to show—it helps individualize them in a sport where helmets make identities hard to discern—but long flowing locks jar with the smooth, clean uniforms found in football. By contrast, crazy, exploding hair works just fine with the kilts on caber tossers.
Surely the long hair is the height of foolishness in a rough sport like the football. If nothing else it offers the convenient handle by which one player may grab another from behind. This is not good and is probably also dangerous.
Comment by Annalucia — March 27, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
Grabbing hair is a penalty so that’s not really a problem.
Long hair I can take – but the tattoos that players sport are really ugly.
Comment by Phyllis — March 28, 2008 @ 5:54 pm
As a die-hard Steelers fan, I’m terribly biased, but I think the criticism of Steelers safety Troy Polamalu (pictured) is unfounded. Rather than a manifestation of a “look-at-me!!” personality, the hair is a celebration of his Samoan heritage. He’s known for being intelligent, humble, soft-spoken, and unfailingly polite. That’s such a rarity in professional sports that I think we should overlook the hair, no matter how it affects the lines of his uniform.
Comment by Kathy — May 20, 2008 @ 6:16 pm