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My take on the pads is many now skip the knee pads, thigh pads, hip pads etc.....The risk for the guy with no pads is bruising and muscle injury, no knee pad will save an ACL. So by skipping pads they cut weight and gain speed (so the theory goes) but when your ribs, head, forearm is on the receiving end of a bony knee well that pad would be a nice thing then. IMHO the Ravens Defense all skips the pads in the pants (thanks to their leader Ray Lewis) and as a consequence look like a bunch of poofs in black leotards. No man should wear pants that tight or shorts if you are a cycling poof either......

HA! Ravens....." look like a bunch of poofs in black leotards." Yesterday, they PLAYED like a bunch of poofs in black leotards the whole 2nd half........................LOL!

Bringing this back to the top as I am still of the mind that Dez Bryant is on the sidelines b/c he doesn't wear thigh or knee pads--and I'll bet you a dollar that the guy who gave him the bruise to his Quad/thigh was NOT wearing knee pads either.
GB's Collins got his neck tweaked when his helmet got grazed by the other players thigh. I didn't see a pad in the video (may be wrong hard to tell) but possibly if the pants have the firmer/slicker pad under the pants vs the softer "grippier" human muscle Collins doesn't get hurt? WHo knows.

If the NFL is so about safety then EVERYONE wears ALL the pads--no exceptions. Heck they make them pull up their socks but you can skip protective gear? WTF?

Oh and you think all the concussions and head injuries in the WR/DB corps is maybe due to the dreads they all sport? Trainers stated that fitting a helmet to a guy with the dreads is very difficult, in addition maybe with the poor fit of the helmet the head is not firmly in the helmet so it bounces around in there?

Ok, I'll take my soap box and leave, thanks for your attention.

QUOTE(#7):

Originally posted 12:54 PM ET  09.21 by +45 yr Cowboy Fan

Bringing this back to the top as I am still of the mind that Dez Bryant is on the sidelines b/c he doesn't wear thigh or knee pads--and I'll bet you a dollar that the guy who gave him the bruise to his Quad/thigh was NOT wearing knee pads either. GB's Collins got his neck tweaked when his helmet got grazed by the other players thigh. I didn't see a pad in the video (may be wrong hard to tell) but possibly if the pants have the firmer/slicker pad under the pants vs the softer "grippier" human muscle Collins doesn't get hurt? WHo knows. If the NFL is so about safety then EVERYONE wears ALL the pads--no exceptions. Heck they make them pull up their socks but you can skip protective gear? WTF?Oh and you think all the concussions and head injuries in the WR/DB corps is maybe due to the dreads they all sport? Trainers stated that fitting a helmet to a guy with the dreads is very difficult, in addition maybe with the poor fit of the helmet the head is not firmly in the helmet so it bounces around in there? Ok, I'll take my soap box and leave, thanks for your attention.

Agree with JackStraw, excellent post and that is coming from a non-cowboy fan.

and I could have made an iPad joke but you probably wouldn't have appreciated it since the topic is rather serious.

QUOTE(#9):

Originally posted 02:30 PM ET  09.21 by Mongo Mean Mad

Agree with JackStraw, excellent post and that is coming from a non-cowboy fan.and I could have made an iPad joke but you probably wouldn't have appreciated it since the topic is rather serious.

I'm smiling at the iPad reference even without the joke as I am usually pretty quick to catch a pun but totally missed the link between iPads and football. The subject is serious I get that but more importantly the risk to players and the quality of football is degraded when the first liners go out. JackStraw makes a point about minimums; I guess the new rule that when a ball-carrier loses his helmet the play stops would be an example of "required equipment" but I think they need to go further.
When I was a kid and we played everyone lined up and the refs walked by us front and back to ensure that ALL pads were present. I remember a kid getting sent back to the locker room for missing tail-bone pad. If you lost your mouth-guard, you didn't play (maybe you could borrow someone elses--you can imagine how that went over).
I guess what ticks me off is that some of these are avoidable injuries. The lack of pads is a false sense that the reduced weight will make you faster....I don't buy it. I bet a sweat soaked pair of pants weigh more than the 2 thigh and 2 knee pads.
You shouldn't go to war without your battle-rattle. Suit 'em up!

QUOTE(#10):

Originally posted 04:09 PM ET  09.21 by +45 yr Cowboy Fan

When I was a kid and we played everyone lined up and the refs walked by us front and back to ensure that ALL pads were present. I remember a kid getting sent back to the locker room for missing tail-bone pad. If you lost your mouth-guard, you didn't play (maybe you could borrow someone elses--you can imagine how that went over). I guess what ticks me off is that some of these are avoidable injuries. The lack of pads is a false sense that the reduced weight will make you faster....I don't buy it. I bet a sweat soaked pair of pants weigh more than the 2 thigh and 2 knee pads. You shouldn't go to war without your battle-rattle. Suit 'em up!

When I was playing high school football a teammate stole my jock strap before a game and I played without one. Thank goodness I had such a small package or I could have been seriously injured.