Sock 'fashion' in the NFL 2014

[John in KY]

Slightly off-topic... Patriots are still using those three stripe socks, which I believe are Adidas-"designed" and extremely out of place.

Interesting to me that they've held on this long. Especially now that Nike is the supplier.

I always thought that the 3-stripe socks were a slight throwback to the 1984-1992 uniforms - they had white socks with red/blue/red worn with both white and red pants.

[guest23]

Mike Williams was fined $11,025 for wearing red tights against the Chargers a couple of weeks ago.

He should have worn the team-issued blue and white, but that’s not how he was feeling when he woke up Sunday morning. We all know, how you dress can influence your entire day. So, he went with it.

“I try to put all the attention on me. Because everything I’ve been through, I know I can handle it,” Williams told ESPN. “I even do a big show before the game, let everybody know what I’m dressing on. Make fun in the locker room, just put all the attention on me so everybody else can go and play.”

“If we win, it’s all worth it. When you lose, that’s when you’re like, 'Should I do it?' But the money goes to somewhere good,” he said.

That right there is ridiculous. He just felt like wearing red socks. A modern day Forrest Gump. Obviously, putting on a show and alerting people as to what he's "dressing on" didn't help the team as much as he had hoped. It's ridiculous that someone would ever think it would be acceptable to wear red tights in lieu of striped blue socks. But this shows perfectly the attitude of the players. If $11,025 is no big deal, then next time add a zero to the end of that number.

You can't wear whatever you feel to work unless you're a tattoo artist or telemarketer. If the Packers are wearing their home uniforms, Aaron Rodgers can't come out in the tan pants because he thinks they're more comfortable. If the Ravens are wearing red, Joe Flacco can't wear a black jersey because YOLO. Wearing random color socks is no different.

The league also created this monster with pinktober and camovember by basically suspending uniform fines for half the season. I'm sure the refs have effectively given up on enforcement and leave it to the league uniform cop as to simply avoid the hassle of determining if the outlandish socks/cleats are part of some league sanctioned awareness campaign. I'm pretty sure the on field crew is indifferent to the whole thing and only cares about calling the actual game.

[shaydre1019]

Ok , first off I play high school football. It is way more comfortable with tights instead of one long sock. You can move betyer , its not as hot, and its thin material that helps when you sweat because it doesn't all get soaked like with socks. I wear the leggings with Elites or Vapor Elites over them which it looks, and feels a whole lot better. Overall I am very happy that players aren't stuck back 10 years ago with the long socks and catch up with the times. BTW these players wear the same thing that a lot of basketball players wear(which looks great in basketball too)

It's great Jamaal Charles wasn't as hot in the 20 degree Kansas City weather last night, otherwise the Chiefs might have played like crap. I'm sure the Bills players picture above found that the six inches of ventilated shins helped them to play betyer.

Stuck back ten years ago? You meant to say "stuck wearing a pro football uniform," because this wearing tights crap is a creation that has happened in the last half decade. It's called a uniform. Pro athletes don't get to wear whatever they want just because it's fashionable or more comfortable.

And no, the restricted movement argument is nonsense. Tell me a football move which would require your shin to be flexible? It's literally impossible to move anything between your knee and ankle.

What did you wear when you played, roman? Personally I've worn tights and it's a lot more comfortable than huge tube socks. (There's a reason you don't see any athletes outside of soccer voluntarily wearing tube socks unless it's Jason terry and even then he does it for superstition reasons. And I think the nfl needs to move the height of the white on the socks lower to the height of a crew sock. The standard socks with the white going halfway up the leg looks dorky and always has. I promise you if the white was just and inch of two lower, less players would pull them down.

[TheOldRoman]

Ok , first off I play high school football. It is way more comfortable with tights instead of one long sock. You can move betyer , its not as hot, and its thin material that helps when you sweat because it doesn't all get soaked like with socks. I wear the leggings with Elites or Vapor Elites over them which it looks, and feels a whole lot better. Overall I am very happy that players aren't stuck back 10 years ago with the long socks and catch up with the times. BTW these players wear the same thing that a lot of basketball players wear(which looks great in basketball too)

It's great Jamaal Charles wasn't as hot in the 20 degree Kansas City weather last night, otherwise the Chiefs might have played like crap. I'm sure the Bills players picture above found that the six inches of ventilated shins helped them to play betyer.

Stuck back ten years ago? You meant to say "stuck wearing a pro football uniform," because this wearing tights crap is a creation that has happened in the last half decade. It's called a uniform. Pro athletes don't get to wear whatever they want just because it's fashionable or more comfortable.

And no, the restricted movement argument is nonsense. Tell me a football move which would require your shin to be flexible? It's literally impossible to move anything between your knee and ankle.

What did you wear when you played, roman? Personally I've worn tights and it's a lot more comfortable than huge tube socks. (There's a reason you don't see any athletes outside of soccer voluntarily wearing tube socks unless it's Jason terry and even then he does it for superstition reasons. And I think the nfl needs to move the height of the white on the socks lower to the height of a crew sock. The standard socks with the white going halfway up the leg looks dorky and always has. I promise you if the white was just and inch of two lower, less players would pull them down.

I didn't play past high school, and we wore pro style socks. I had no issue with their comfort. Socks are comfortable. I don't think they look dorky - they look like a pro football uniform. Spandex pants and cap-sleeved shirts look pretty dorky, too, outside of football.

[beast3]

I looked up pictures of Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas. After a quick Google search, I found no pictures of Thomas in which he wasn't wearing full socks. The only picture I found of Reed with tights showing was during Super Bowl XXV.

And the reason fining hasn't been an effective deterrent is because the fines are asinine. It's a drop in the bucket for these players, basically like the Average Joes whose jobs allow them to wear jeans to work on Fridays if they pay $5 to charity. The guy making $400,000 a year apparently doesn't think twice about giving up $5,000 a game (if they even fine him), and the guy making millions certainly doesn't. But if you start doubling and tripling the fines for each occurence, that would change. Honestly, it's a team uniform, which is a requirement for the job. Most jobs have a required dress code. I can't show up to work on a business attire day wearing shorts because I find them more comfortable or fashionable, and the NFL is far more concern with its appearance than my company, seeing as we rarely ever see our clients.

Andre Reed with socks

Andre Reed with tights in Super Bowl XXV

[shaydre1019]

Ok , first off I play high school football. It is way more comfortable with tights instead of one long sock. You can move betyer , its not as hot, and its thin material that helps when you sweat because it doesn't all get soaked like with socks. I wear the leggings with Elites or Vapor Elites over them which it looks, and feels a whole lot better. Overall I am very happy that players aren't stuck back 10 years ago with the long socks and catch up with the times. BTW these players wear the same thing that a lot of basketball players wear(which looks great in basketball too)

It's great Jamaal Charles wasn't as hot in the 20 degree Kansas City weather last night, otherwise the Chiefs might have played like crap. I'm sure the Bills players picture above found that the six inches of ventilated shins helped them to play betyer.

Stuck back ten years ago? You meant to say "stuck wearing a pro football uniform," because this wearing tights crap is a creation that has happened in the last half decade. It's called a uniform. Pro athletes don't get to wear whatever they want just because it's fashionable or more comfortable.

And no, the restricted movement argument is nonsense. Tell me a football move which would require your shin to be flexible? It's literally impossible to move anything between your knee and ankle.

What did you wear when you played, roman? Personally I've worn tights and it's a lot more comfortable than huge tube socks. (There's a reason you don't see any athletes outside of soccer voluntarily wearing tube socks unless it's Jason terry and even then he does it for superstition reasons. And I think the nfl needs to move the height of the white on the socks lower to the height of a crew sock. The standard socks with the white going halfway up the leg looks dorky and always has. I promise you if the white was just and inch of two lower, less players would pull them down.

I didn't play past high school, and we wore pro style socks. I had no issue with their comfort. Socks are comfortable. I don't think they look dorky - they look like a pro football uniform. Spandex pants and cap-sleeved shirts look pretty dorky, too, outside of football.

You don't think they look dorky, but I promise you the majority of fans/viewers/consumers under the age of 35-40 think they look dorky. With that being said, I also don't like when there is little to no white showing like the lions used to wear for thanksgiving. I think it looks amateurish. I definitely think white is necessary just less than what is currently the league issued standard.

As for tights those are much more comfortable than tube socks and you can't tell the difference unless you're 5 ft away. As for the cap sleeves, fitted clothes are in right now. But even if it weren't, sports fashion and more specifically football fashion stems from player comfort and tight form fitting jerseys are definitely way more comfortable from personal experience and it's not even close.

One last point about the tights is that it gets rid of exposed knees which imo looks better if you're gonna cover the whole leg.

[tubby34]

Not gonna lie, that williams pic with red tights makes me wish the bills wore red socks

[oldschoolvikings]

Most of the players think the striped socks look silly and realize how out-of-style they are with most uniforms. So they go overboard and end up looking worse.

I have a serious question... I really want to know. You've said multiple times that the current players hate striped socks. How do you know? Or is it just a guess and if so, what makes you think that? Have you actually discussed this with a player, or seen an interview where they've said this? And if so, how many players does it take for you to say "most"?

I'm not trying to just poke at you... I really want to know why you seem to think you've got the player's pulse on this.

I'm bumping this question because Dennis is ignoring me. Seriously, I'm not trying to be a jerk here... I want to know. Why are you so sure about what the players prefer?

[Echo]

Not gonna lie, that williams pic with red tights makes me wish the bills wore red socks

Me too. Especially with the blue pants.

[TheOldRoman]

What did you wear when you played, roman? Personally I've worn tights and it's a lot more comfortable than huge tube socks. (There's a reason you don't see any athletes outside of soccer voluntarily wearing tube socks unless it's Jason terry and even then he does it for superstition reasons. And I think the nfl needs to move the height of the white on the socks lower to the height of a crew sock. The standard socks with the white going halfway up the leg looks dorky and always has. I promise you if the white was just and inch of two lower, less players would pull them down.

I didn't play past high school, and we wore pro style socks. I had no issue with their comfort. Socks are comfortable. I don't think they look dorky - they look like a pro football uniform. Spandex pants and cap-sleeved shirts look pretty dorky, too, outside of football.

You don't think they look dorky, but I promise you the majority of fans/viewers/consumers under the age of 35-40 think they look dorky. With that being said, I also don't like when there is little to no white showing like the lions used to wear for thanksgiving. I think it looks amateurish. I definitely think white is necessary just less than what is currently the league issued standard.

As for tights those are much more comfortable than tube socks and you can't tell the difference unless you're 5 ft away. As for the cap sleeves, fitted clothes are in right now. But even if it weren't, sports fashion and more specifically football fashion stems from player comfort and tight form fitting jerseys are definitely way more comfortable from personal experience and it's not even close.

One last point about the tights is that it gets rid of exposed knees which imo looks better if you're gonna cover the whole leg.

Well, you thinking the current socks are dorky is an opinion, just as my opinion that they look great. But you have nothing to back up your assertion that the majority of people under 35 (me) think it looks bad. Like I said, it's a football uniform. It looks no more dorky to me than skin tight spandex pants. I wouldn't wear either knee-high socks or spandex pants to work or to hang out with friends, but they look appropriate for a football uniform because that's what a football uniform is. If we're looking for items which don't look "dorky", we're going to be down to all sports leagues having teams in pleatless pants and fitted dress shirts.

[shaydre1019]

What did you wear when you played, roman? Personally I've worn tights and it's a lot more comfortable than huge tube socks. (There's a reason you don't see any athletes outside of soccer voluntarily wearing tube socks unless it's Jason terry and even then he does it for superstition reasons. And I think the nfl needs to move the height of the white on the socks lower to the height of a crew sock. The standard socks with the white going halfway up the leg looks dorky and always has. I promise you if the white was just and inch of two lower, less players would pull them down.

I didn't play past high school, and we wore pro style socks. I had no issue with their comfort. Socks are comfortable. I don't think they look dorky - they look like a pro football uniform. Spandex pants and cap-sleeved shirts look pretty dorky, too, outside of football.

You don't think they look dorky, but I promise you the majority of fans/viewers/consumers under the age of 35-40 think they look dorky. With that being said, I also don't like when there is little to no white showing like the lions used to wear for thanksgiving. I think it looks amateurish. I definitely think white is necessary just less than what is currently the league issued standard.

As for tights those are much more comfortable than tube socks and you can't tell the difference unless you're 5 ft away. As for the cap sleeves, fitted clothes are in right now. But even if it weren't, sports fashion and more specifically football fashion stems from player comfort and tight form fitting jerseys are definitely way more comfortable from personal experience and it's not even close.

One last point about the tights is that it gets rid of exposed knees which imo looks better if you're gonna cover the whole leg.

Well, you thinking the current socks are dorky is an opinion, just as my opinion that they look great. But you have nothing to back up your assertion that the majority of people under 35 (me) think it looks bad. Like I said, it's a football uniform. It looks no more dorky to me than skin tight spandex pants. I wouldn't wear either knee-high socks or spandex pants to work or to hang out with friends, but they look appropriate for a football uniform because that's what a football uniform is. If we're looking for items which don't look "dorky", we're going to be down to all sports leagues having teams in pleatless pants and fitted dress shirts.

Except the fact that everyone wears crew socks. They are huge right now. They've been the standard for college football the last 5 yrs and are what the majority of nfl players wear in practice. They're what NBA players wear (paired with tights often) what soccer players train in, and pretty much everywhere else that athletic wear is worn.

When my older brother (who is 30) was in high school they pulled down the white part of their pro style socks because they thought it looked cooler, so this isn't a new thing. Showing less white has been a thing for a while.

[Sport]

So a player who plays for, let’s say the Bears, wears blue tights under his football pants and then puts on an elastic sock that has stripes without the foot part over the blue tights (or white if they’re on the road). I get that, but there’s players on teams who don’t have striped socks who also wear an extra sock(s) over the top of their tights. There’s also many players who don’t wear tights under their pants and just wear the team issued sock as a one piece thing. Suh with Detroit is one example I found.

Look at Terence Newman

he wears orange tights under his pants, then pulls orange tubes over the top and wears white socks at the bottom. That orange tube could easily have stripes on it. His buddy Leon Hall looks to be wearing orange tights that are pulled over the Nike team issued socks with the orange block at the top. If the Bengals were a striped sock team he could easily adjust and pull the bottom sock over the top.

I don't see how wearing striped socks is any more or less comfortable than non-striped socks.

I also don’t understand where this idea that players hate striped socks comes from. I think that might just be dennis propaganda because he hates striped socks.

By my count there are 10 teams that use striped socks in some form. That’s the same number of teams who have sleeve logos. By dennis logic sleeve logos are out of style.

[guest23]

So a player who plays for, let’s say the Bears, wears blue tights under his football pants and then puts on an elastic sock that has stripes without the foot part over the blue tights (or white if they’re on the road). I get that, but there’s players on teams who don’t have striped socks who also wear an extra sock(s) over the top of their tights. There’s also many players who don’t wear tights under their pants and just wear the team issued sock as a one piece thing. Suh with Detroit is one example I found.

Look at Terence Newman

he wears orange tights under his pants, then pulls orange tubes over the top and wears white socks at the bottom. That orange tube could easily have stripes on it. His buddy Leon Hall looks to be wearing orange tights that are pulled over the Nike team issued socks with the orange block at the top. If the Bengals were a striped sock team he could easily adjust and pull the bottom sock over the top.

I don't see how wearing striped socks is any more or less comfortable than non-striped socks.

I also don’t understand where this idea that players hate striped socks comes from. I think that might just be dennis propaganda because he hates striped socks.

By my count there are 10 teams that use striped socks in some form. That’s the same number of teams who have sleeve logos. By dennis logic sleeve logos are out of style.

How many ncaa teams wear striped socks? More teams have dropped striped socks than added striped socks in the nfl since the 1990's when the tight trend started. Not saying there's a direct correlation but here's a short list of teams that have worn striped socks in the past that no longer do: 9ers, skins, colts, chargers road (old set), saints, eagles (old set), cowboys, browns home, broncos (old set) cardinals (old set), dolphins (old set) packers etc. Most of these examples have nearly the same set or could easily have a striped set if they chose to currently but alas they do not and a handful opted to go with the dreaded leotard look. Personally I think the players had some influence on the matter and it appears with redesigns striped socks really aren't a consideration unless you're the bills.

[Sport]

So a player who plays for, let’s say the Bears, wears blue tights under his football pants and then puts on an elastic sock that has stripes without the foot part over the blue tights (or white if they’re on the road). I get that, but there’s players on teams who don’t have striped socks who also wear an extra sock(s) over the top of their tights. There’s also many players who don’t wear tights under their pants and just wear the team issued sock as a one piece thing. Suh with Detroit is one example I found.

Look at Terence Newman

he wears orange tights under his pants, then pulls orange tubes over the top and wears white socks at the bottom. That orange tube could easily have stripes on it. His buddy Leon Hall looks to be wearing orange tights that are pulled over the Nike team issued socks with the orange block at the top. If the Bengals were a striped sock team he could easily adjust and pull the bottom sock over the top.

I don't see how wearing striped socks is any more or less comfortable than non-striped socks.

I also don’t understand where this idea that players hate striped socks comes from. I think that might just be dennis propaganda because he hates striped socks.

By my count there are 10 teams that use striped socks in some form. That’s the same number of teams who have sleeve logos. By dennis logic sleeve logos are out of style.

How many ncaa teams wear striped socks? More teams have dropped striped socks than added striped socks in the nfl since the 1990's when the tight trend started. Not saying there's a direct correlation but here's a short list of teams that have worn striped socks in the past that no longer do: 9ers, skins, colts, chargers road (old set), saints, eagles (old set), cowboys, browns home, broncos (old set) cardinals (old set), dolphins (old set) packers etc. Most of these examples have nearly the same set or could easily have a striped set if they chose to currently but alas they do not and a handful opted to go with the dreaded leotard look. Personally I think the players had some influence on the matter and it appears with redesigns striped socks really aren't a consideration unless you're the bills.

I don't think we should look to college football as the arbiter of what is tasteful. College football might have the worst uniforms of any sport at any level. Plus, a lot of college football teams don't even wear knee high socks. That doesn't mean the NFL should stop wearing them.

Some teams have dropped striped socks, but they haven't gone away completely and there are contemporary ways to stripe a sock (Chargers, Broncos, Lions are an example). Of your list the Redskins still use striped socks, so do the Chargers, so do the Broncos, and the Lions added that style of striping when they didn't previously have it. I counted the Dolphins because they have a blue stripe at the top of the socks they wear with the teal pants.

[St Louis Cardinals]

Virginia wore striped socks:

can't find any photos of players wearing them recently though

[dolphins91]

What did you wear when you played, roman? Personally I've worn tights and it's a lot more comfortable than huge tube socks. (There's a reason you don't see any athletes outside of soccer voluntarily wearing tube socks unless it's Jason terry and even then he does it for superstition reasons. And I think the nfl needs to move the height of the white on the socks lower to the height of a crew sock. The standard socks with the white going halfway up the leg looks dorky and always has. I promise you if the white was just and inch of two lower, less players would pull them down.

I didn't play past high school, and we wore pro style socks. I had no issue with their comfort. Socks are comfortable. I don't think they look dorky - they look like a pro football uniform. Spandex pants and cap-sleeved shirts look pretty dorky, too, outside of football.

You don't think they look dorky, but I promise you the majority of fans/viewers/consumers under the age of 35-40 think they look dorky. With that being said, I also don't like when there is little to no white showing like the lions used to wear for thanksgiving. I think it looks amateurish. I definitely think white is necessary just less than what is currently the league issued standard.

As for tights those are much more comfortable than tube socks and you can't tell the difference unless you're 5 ft away. As for the cap sleeves, fitted clothes are in right now. But even if it weren't, sports fashion and more specifically football fashion stems from player comfort and tight form fitting jerseys are definitely way more comfortable from personal experience and it's not even close.

One last point about the tights is that it gets rid of exposed knees which imo looks better if you're gonna cover the whole leg.

Well, you thinking the current socks are dorky is an opinion, just as my opinion that they look great. But you have nothing to back up your assertion that the majority of people under 35 (me) think it looks bad. Like I said, it's a football uniform. It looks no more dorky to me than skin tight spandex pants. I wouldn't wear either knee-high socks or spandex pants to work or to hang out with friends, but they look appropriate for a football uniform because that's what a football uniform is. If we're looking for items which don't look "dorky", we're going to be down to all sports leagues having teams in pleatless pants and fitted dress shirts.

Except the fact that everyone wears crew socks. They are huge right now. They've been the standard for college football the last 5 yrs and are what the majority of nfl players wear in practice. They're what NBA players wear (paired with tights often) what soccer players train in, and pretty much everywhere else that athletic wear is worn.

When my older brother (who is 30) was in high school they pulled down the white part of their pro style socks because they thought it looked cooler, so this isn't a new thing. Showing less white has been a thing for a while.

I agree with you shaydre. I play HS football and it is way more comfortable to wear tights instead of long tube socks. I usually wear them with elites simply because it looks and feels a lot better that the half white half color tube socks of the nfl.

[daschuck77]

Here is a shot of Thurman in some 'Thurmals'

I looked up pictures of Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas. After a quick Google search, I found no pictures of Thomas in which he wasn't wearing full socks. The only picture I found of Reed with tights showing was during Super Bowl XXV.

And the reason fining hasn't been an effective deterrent is because the fines are asinine. It's a drop in the bucket for these players, basically like the Average Joes whose jobs allow them to wear jeans to work on Fridays if they pay $5 to charity. The guy making $400,000 a year apparently doesn't think twice about giving up $5,000 a game (if they even fine him), and the guy making millions certainly doesn't. But if you start doubling and tripling the fines for each occurence, that would change. Honestly, it's a team uniform, which is a requirement for the job. Most jobs have a required dress code. I can't show up to work on a business attire day wearing shorts because I find them more comfortable or fashionable, and the NFL is far more concern with its appearance than my company, seeing as we rarely ever see our clients.

Andre Reed with socks


Andre Reed with tights in Super Bowl XXV

[TheOldRoman]

So a player who plays for, let’s say the Bears, wears blue tights under his football pants and then puts on an elastic sock that has stripes without the foot part over the blue tights (or white if they’re on the road). I get that, but there’s players on teams who don’t have striped socks who also wear an extra sock(s) over the top of their tights. There’s also many players who don’t wear tights under their pants and just wear the team issued sock as a one piece thing. Suh with Detroit is one example I found.

Look at Terence Newman

he wears orange tights under his pants, then pulls orange tubes over the top and wears white socks at the bottom. That orange tube could easily have stripes on it. His buddy Leon Hall looks to be wearing orange tights that are pulled over the Nike team issued socks with the orange block at the top. If the Bengals were a striped sock team he could easily adjust and pull the bottom sock over the top.

I don't see how wearing striped socks is any more or less comfortable than non-striped socks.

I also don’t understand where this idea that players hate striped socks comes from. I think that might just be dennis propaganda because he hates striped socks.

By my count there are 10 teams that use striped socks in some form. That’s the same number of teams who have sleeve logos. By dennis logic sleeve logos are out of style.

How many ncaa teams wear striped socks? More teams have dropped striped socks than added striped socks in the nfl since the 1990's when the tight trend started. Not saying there's a direct correlation but here's a short list of teams that have worn striped socks in the past that no longer do: 9ers, skins, colts, chargers road (old set), saints, eagles (old set), cowboys, browns home, broncos (old set) cardinals (old set), dolphins (old set) packers etc. Most of these examples have nearly the same set or could easily have a striped set if they chose to currently but alas they do not and a handful opted to go with the dreaded leotard look. Personally I think the players had some influence on the matter and it appears with redesigns striped socks really aren't a consideration unless you're the bills.

I don't think we should look to college football as the arbiter of what is tasteful. College football might have the worst uniforms of any sport at any level. Plus, a lot of college football teams don't even wear knee high socks. That doesn't mean the NFL should stop wearing them.

Some teams have dropped striped socks, but they haven't gone away completely and there are contemporary ways to stripe a sock (Chargers, Broncos, Lions are an example). Of your list the Redskins still use striped socks, so do the Chargers, so do the Broncos, and the Lions added that style of striping when they didn't previously have it. I counted the Dolphins because they have a blue stripe at the top of the socks they wear with the teal pants.

Furthermore, the trend in recent years has been to combat shrinking sleeves by slapping a logo on the sleeve instead of stripes. So of course teams aren't going to create a striping pattern for a new identity just to place it on the socks. As for older teams which dropped stripes, maybe some did so because they figured nobody would notice and it was slightly easier for them to get the socks. Eastbay sells NFL socks in all the primary colors, but striped socks would have to be custom made. I know it sounds silly to think an NFL team would cheap-out over socks, but keep in mind that the Detroit Lions had worn royal blue socks with the two previous sets.

[guest23]

So a player who plays for, let’s say the Bears, wears blue tights under his football pants and then puts on an elastic sock that has stripes without the foot part over the blue tights (or white if they’re on the road). I get that, but there’s players on teams who don’t have striped socks who also wear an extra sock(s) over the top of their tights. There’s also many players who don’t wear tights under their pants and just wear the team issued sock as a one piece thing. Suh with Detroit is one example I found.

Look at Terence Newman

he wears orange tights under his pants, then pulls orange tubes over the top and wears white socks at the bottom. That orange tube could easily have stripes on it. His buddy Leon Hall looks to be wearing orange tights that are pulled over the Nike team issued socks with the orange block at the top. If the Bengals were a striped sock team he could easily adjust and pull the bottom sock over the top.

I don't see how wearing striped socks is any more or less comfortable than non-striped socks.

I also don’t understand where this idea that players hate striped socks comes from. I think that might just be dennis propaganda because he hates striped socks.

By my count there are 10 teams that use striped socks in some form. That’s the same number of teams who have sleeve logos. By dennis logic sleeve logos are out of style.

How many ncaa teams wear striped socks? More teams have dropped striped socks than added striped socks in the nfl since the 1990's when the tight trend started. Not saying there's a direct correlation but here's a short list of teams that have worn striped socks in the past that no longer do: 9ers, skins, colts, chargers road (old set), saints, eagles (old set), cowboys, browns home, broncos (old set) cardinals (old set), dolphins (old set) packers etc. Most of these examples have nearly the same set or could easily have a striped set if they chose to currently but alas they do not and a handful opted to go with the dreaded leotard look. Personally I think the players had some influence on the matter and it appears with redesigns striped socks really aren't a consideration unless you're the bills.

I don't think we should look to college football as the arbiter of what is tasteful. College football might have the worst uniforms of any sport at any level. Plus, a lot of college football teams don't even wear knee high socks. That doesn't mean the NFL should stop wearing them.

Some teams have dropped striped socks, but they haven't gone away completely and there are contemporary ways to stripe a sock (Chargers, Broncos, Lions are an example). Of your list the Redskins still use striped socks, so do the Chargers, so do the Broncos, and the Lions added that style of striping when they didn't previously have it. I counted the Dolphins because they have a blue stripe at the top of the socks they wear with the teal pants.

Yeah I was referring to the skins dropping the white sock when they wore burgundy pants which has not happened in quite some time and completely forgot about the throwback sock being back in the mix. It still does not change the fact that striped socks are in less popular now than they have ever been. Also trying to call a thin line of contrasting color at the bottom of a sock a stripe is a serious reach when the color is barely noticeable, not stripes IMO. I think the browns will be a good indicator of nike's views of sock trends and the vikings/dolphins were great striped sock opportunities that were passed on. And no that 2 toned monstrosity does not count. If it was aqua/orange then I'd say yes.

I for one like striped socks but I'm also a realist. Striped socks are simply not very popular right now but they could come back into fashion. Personally I think a great compromise would be to eliminate the requirement of having white bottoms and adding more stripes to the mix. Vikings/packers/9ers/lions would all look amazing with striped colored socks.

[Sport]

So a player who plays for, let’s say the Bears, wears blue tights under his football pants and then puts on an elastic sock that has stripes without the foot part over the blue tights (or white if they’re on the road). I get that, but there’s players on teams who don’t have striped socks who also wear an extra sock(s) over the top of their tights. There’s also many players who don’t wear tights under their pants and just wear the team issued sock as a one piece thing. Suh with Detroit is one example I found.

Look at Terence Newman

he wears orange tights under his pants, then pulls orange tubes over the top and wears white socks at the bottom. That orange tube could easily have stripes on it. His buddy Leon Hall looks to be wearing orange tights that are pulled over the Nike team issued socks with the orange block at the top. If the Bengals were a striped sock team he could easily adjust and pull the bottom sock over the top.

I don't see how wearing striped socks is any more or less comfortable than non-striped socks.

I also don’t understand where this idea that players hate striped socks comes from. I think that might just be dennis propaganda because he hates striped socks.

By my count there are 10 teams that use striped socks in some form. That’s the same number of teams who have sleeve logos. By dennis logic sleeve logos are out of style.

How many ncaa teams wear striped socks? More teams have dropped striped socks than added striped socks in the nfl since the 1990's when the tight trend started. Not saying there's a direct correlation but here's a short list of teams that have worn striped socks in the past that no longer do: 9ers, skins, colts, chargers road (old set), saints, eagles (old set), cowboys, browns home, broncos (old set) cardinals (old set), dolphins (old set) packers etc. Most of these examples have nearly the same set or could easily have a striped set if they chose to currently but alas they do not and a handful opted to go with the dreaded leotard look. Personally I think the players had some influence on the matter and it appears with redesigns striped socks really aren't a consideration unless you're the bills.

I don't think we should look to college football as the arbiter of what is tasteful. College football might have the worst uniforms of any sport at any level. Plus, a lot of college football teams don't even wear knee high socks. That doesn't mean the NFL should stop wearing them.

Some teams have dropped striped socks, but they haven't gone away completely and there are contemporary ways to stripe a sock (Chargers, Broncos, Lions are an example). Of your list the Redskins still use striped socks, so do the Chargers, so do the Broncos, and the Lions added that style of striping when they didn't previously have it. I counted the Dolphins because they have a blue stripe at the top of the socks they wear with the teal pants.

Yeah I was referring to the skins dropping the white sock when they wore burgundy pants which has not happened in quite some time and completely forgot about the throwback sock being back in the mix. It still does not change the fact that striped socks are in less popular now than they have ever been. Also trying to call a thin line of contrasting color at the bottom of a sock a stripe is a serious reach when the color is barely noticeable, not stripes IMO. I think the browns will be a good indicator of nike's views of sock trends and the vikings/dolphins were great striped sock opportunities that were passed on. And no that 2 toned monstrosity does not count. If it was aqua/orange then I'd say yes.

I for one like striped socks but I'm also a realist. Striped socks are simply not very popular right now but they could come back into fashion. Personally I think a great compromise would be to eliminate the requirement of having white bottoms and adding more stripes to the mix. Vikings/packers/9ers/lions would all look amazing with striped colored socks.

The Chargers, Broncos, and Lions socks have the dictionary definition of a stripe on their socks. You can't say it's not a stripe.