If you watch any high school, college or professional football game you might have several questions that arise.
Out of the field, you will see football players in eye black, wearing fanny packs with towels tucked into their pants.
You start to wonder, what is going on! Why do they have these different gadgets or accessories?
For example, one questions we often get:
Why Do Football Players Have Towels?
Handling the football properly and ensuring players hands remain dry and in premium condition to catch, throw or handle the football is essential to winning and a fumble or drop pass can mean the difference between victory or defeat.
Ultimately, the football players need to ensure their hands are dry and ready for the next play.
Some related questions to football players and towels:
- What positions need a towel in football
- Where do they tuck the towel in football
- How many towels are needed for a football game
Why do football players wear fanny packs?
What positions need a towel in football?
Three three most vital positions include the quarterback, running backs and wide received. These offensive positions often throw, catch or carry the ball and a fumble or dropped pass would be a bad thing.
However, you will often see defensive players with a towel to keep their hands dry in case of an opportunity for an interception or if there is a fumble.
They also might prefer to keep their hands dry for tackling and being able to grab the offensive player and tackle them to the ground.
One other key position is the center, which is the person who snaps the ball at the beginning of every play. With more teams using shotgun formation now then any other time in the history of the game, the initial snap is vital to ensuring the player does not become disastrous with a poor snap, resulting in a fumble.
Are football fields real grass?
Where do they tuck the towel in football?
You will often find a towel tucked into the front portion of a player’s football pants. This provides easy access and they can simply reach down and dry their hands before the play begins. You will often see the center with a towel tucked on the backside of his pants, which allows the quarterback to dry his hands prior to the snap.
You will often find towels on the sidelines and players wearing wide receiver gloves to help with the grip of the ball. Equipment managers or coaches support the players in ensuring they are ready for each play.
How many towels are needed for a football game?
It is recommended that a team have at least 20-30 towels available for the various positions players that might need them, plus extras for when the original becomes muddy or wet. The last thing any coach or player wants is to lose a game door to the playing conditions or being ill prepared for the conditions that they are faced with.
Many teams will practice for these conditions throughout the season by spraying the ball with water before a play in practice to help the players prepare for adverse playing conditions.
This is something coaches will want to take into consideration when purchasing equipment for the upcoming game. Being prepared for each possible weather condition is part of making sure the team is ready.
Other Helpful Accessories: Wide Receiver Gloves
The wide receiver gloves are worn by many more players than just wide receivers. THe quality of the gloves are simply amazing and help significantly with the grip of the ball. You won’t find many receivers or running backs that do not utilize these gloves. Any competitive advantage that can be gained is usually gained. The combination of receive gloves, plus a towel helps the player ensure they have a quality grip.
You will even find that the quarterbacks, when playing in cold weather, often wear the receiver gloves. During the cold weather, the ball might be difficult to grip and can become slick. The gloves then serve two purposes: they keep the hands warm and also provide a quality grip in the cold or wet weather, even for a quarterback.
Why do football players wear gloves?
Final Thoughts
Accessories in the game of football help the players produce at a higher level. You will find towels used at all levels from youth to professionals. You will also see many youth level players wearing wide receiver gloves not only because of the performance increase, but also because that is what the professionals do.
Football is a highly entertaining game. The amount of speed found on football fields nowadays has made the game more wide open with plenty of throwing the ball and fast action taking place.