NCAAF Uniform Police

[robbman21]

The NFL has had their "uniform police" for almost three decades now, if not longer, and although they have been somewhat laxed since the NIKE takeover last year ("allowing" teammates in different color shoes,etc), they still have a strong presence in regards to the way the uniforms appear on the field. Although it will likely never happen, I'm wondering what everyone would think if the NCAA adopted a similar sideline presence to make sure everyone who comes out of the locker room has matching socks, shoes, proper/authorized accessories, etc. I know this would take individuality out of the game, but I get irked at seeing little things like one guy wearing knee-high solid white socks while the rest of the team has nearly invisible ankle socks. Thoughts?

[wonderbread]

The NFL has had their "uniform police" for almost three decades now, if not longer, and although they have been somewhat laxed since the NIKE takeover last year ("allowing" teammates in different color shoes,etc), they still have a strong presence in regards to the way the uniforms appear on the field. Although it will likely never happen, I'm wondering what everyone would think if the NCAA adopted a similar sideline presence to make sure everyone who comes out of the locker room has matching socks, shoes, proper/authorized accessories, etc. I know this would take individuality out of the game, but I get irked at seeing little things like one guy wearing knee-high solid white socks while the rest of the team has nearly invisible ankle socks. Thoughts?

The individual colleges do this, they make sure you dont wear Adidas if you are a nike school stuff like that

[shaydre1019]

I don't think anyone wears ankle socks anymore.

Crew socks are the standard now.

Yeah idk I it's an equipment manager or what, but I know you have to wear only the approved supplier for all gear.

And I mean these are college kids so it's not like they'd be able to afford a bunch I extra gear anyway.

[slapshot]

The NFL has only 16 games at one time. And only 53 dressed players per team.

The NCAA has between 50-60 games, 90+ dresses players, and that's just FCS. It's much tougher to enforce.

As officials, all we can do is have the coaches sign paperwork stating, to the best of their knowledge, all players are legally and properly equipped. We have a lot more stuff to worry about during the game, and unless padding is exposed, it's not really our call.

[BBTV]

The NFL has had their "uniform police" for almost three decades now, if not longer, and although they have been somewhat laxed since the NIKE takeover last year ("allowing" teammates in different color shoes,etc), they still have a strong presence in regards to the way the uniforms appear on the field. Although it will likely never happen, I'm wondering what everyone would think if the NCAA adopted a similar sideline presence to make sure everyone who comes out of the locker room has matching socks, shoes, proper/authorized accessories, etc. I know this would take individuality out of the game, but I get irked at seeing little things like one guy wearing knee-high solid white socks while the rest of the team has nearly invisible ankle socks. Thoughts?

The NFL is very brand / image conscious, and with the way the league is structured, each team's brand / image directly impacts each other team, and the league as a whole. The league itself has an image it wants to portray, and therefore can / should govern these things. It's debatable whether one agrees with their rules, but it's clear that they do need to have some level of oversight when it comes to these things. Not that having matching socks affects jersey sales or anything, but having a degree of professional appearance is part of what gives the NFL the look and feel of a big-time league - and image, as they say, is everything.

The NCAA is way different. Nothing Notre Dame does directly impacts Alabama's bottom line (with the obvious exception of if they actually play each other.) There's no merchandise split, revenue sharing, etc. The NCAA itself is just a governing body, not (in theory anyway) a commercial entity like the NFL.

Now you could make a case that the individual conferences should make their own rules and handle their own enforcement, but I'm still not sure if that's even necessary, because other than gate / bowl / TV revenue, what do they split? While I think that uniformity is important and there should be some standards, when it comes to college, I'd say that's more the responsibility of the individual school to come up with a policy and enforce it.

[OnWis97]

I have to admit that I just don't care about this kind of compliance in the NCAA and I won't care until such time (this will never happen) as teams come out in the same uniforms week to week; uniforms that represent the school more than the apparel manufacturer. When a team comes out bordering on unrecognizable in its 9th uniform in 10 games my interest in sock height and shoe color is not there (in fairness, I don't usually care about these things anyway).

[DC in Da House w/o a Doubt]

Yesss Gary... Yesss...