The NFL's 300-Pound Fashion Victims
Pondered in the ">http://www.nfljerseys.us.com/"> NFLlocker room this season, as some players try on their new tighter, sleeker Nike uniforms, is a question usually reserved for Nordstrom fitting lounges: Does this make me look fat?
"I hate them. They are built for thin guys," said Alex Boone, a 300-pound starting guard for the San Francisco 49ers. "It makes me look like I have big old love handles."
After a decade of wearing Reebok-made jerseys, ">http://www.nfljerseys.us.com/"> NFL players this year switched to Nike, which unveiled a new model that has what it calls a "body-contoured fit." While it looks great on Adonis-like players such as Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Miami running back Reggie Bush, it's a bit less popular among those who are a bit more full-figured.
"I don't really care for the new jerseys," said Baltimore ">http://www.nfljerseys.us.com/"> Ravens defensive lineman Terrence Cody, who is 349 pounds and 6 feet 4. "I feel like they should put different material in for the big guys."
Boone, who complains that his stomach hangs out the bottom of the jersey, said it makes him feel self-conscious. "It makes me look fat," he said, "and I'm not fat."
When Boone's wife first saw him in the new garb, he reports, "she said, 'It looks like you ate a small baby.'
Tight jerseys are all the fashion in some sports. How better to show off the sculpted physiques of ">http://www.nfljerseys.us.com/"> NBA players? In swimming and soccer, clothiers go so far as to claim (with limited evidence) that form-fitting unis enhance performance. Adidas, for instance, said its tight Chelsea jersey "stabilizes and focuses the muscles' energy."
That's fine when you're outfitting 11 of the world's fittest athletes. But outfitting the ">http://www.nfljerseys.us.com/"> NFL presents a range of problems—or rather, a problem of range. Some receivers, running backs and kickers weigh less than 200 pounds. Linemen, meanwhile, routinely top 300.
One critic of the new jerseys, 315-pound Ravens lineman Arthur Jones, said it's hard for most normal people to comprehend the size a shirt needs to be to fit him comfortably. Specifically, he said, it needs to be "huge."
"We have 40 years of experience in the football business and the idea in our products is for optimal performance and we work with the athletes to find fit and function," a Nike spokesman said. "The uniforms are available in a variety of sizes and cuts for different players with enhanced performance in mind."
Some ">http://www.nfljerseys.us.com/"> NFL defenders say they want tighter jerseys, because they provide less material for offensive linemen to grab. Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher joked earlier this summer that his defensive teammate, Julius Peppers, would score 50 quarterback sacks this season thanks to the tighter jersey.
But so far, that shift hasn't quite happened. Instead, some players are spending inordinate amounts of time during breaks in the game pulling down their jerseys. For the Ravens' Cody, the trouble begins in particular whenever it gets damp. "It feels like it tightens up and stuff, it's hard to breathe, it constricts," Cody said. As soon as his jersey gets wet, he added, "it's kind of ruined." On passing plays in Thursday night's rain-soaked game against the Cleveland Browns, he continued, his jersey was "jacked up" on each down. Cody said he's had to experiment with different sizes—from a 48-inch chest down to a 44.
Making jerseys for lineman has become a bigger challenge in recent years. The 1966 Green ">http://www.nfljerseys.us.com/"> Bay Packers , winners of the first Super Bowl, did not feature an offensive lineman heavier than 250 pounds. Today, the Packers' five offensive line starters weigh an average of 312.8.
As yet, no big linemen have registered complaints about the new jerseys with the Gridiron Uniform Database, a fan-run site primarily concerned with design debates such as whether "the stripes on the ">http://www.nfljerseys.us.com/"> Redskins' white pants [are] thinner/narrower than they used to be."
The site's chief researcher, Tim Brulia, said that during the early decades of the league, little about uniforms changed beyond color and design. Uniforms consisted mostly of a cloth-like material called durene. In the 1960s, however, teams started switching to mesh because it's lighter and less inclined to retain sweat. In the late 1970s, offensive linemen started a trend of tighter jerseys, which allowed less material to grab onto for opposing players. That idea eventually spread throughout all positions.
To Brulia, and nearly everyone else, the new ">http://www.nfljerseys.us.com/"> Nike jerseys appear to look a lot more attractive on running backs and receivers than the husky fellas up front. Leonard Davis, a 6-foot-6, 355-pound offensive guard for San Francisco, said the new jersey has a way of creeping up his torso. It's not that he doesn't like the jersey, he said. "I just wish it was a little bit longer." He said his jersey routinely becomes un-tucked "and I don't even play much."
Some players, however, think the problem may be one of vanity. Ramon Harewood, a 334-pound Baltimore lineman, said that the ">http://www.nfljerseys.us.com/"> new jersey fits him fine and that the complainers are those who "like to look pretty" and be "swagged up."
"They say you have to look good to play good—I don't believe that," said Harewood.
jerseyswhosale - 25. Mai, 08:54
