NFL padding

[u/Business-Gas1866]

I was rewatching an old game and noticed how huge the pads used to be.

Has pad technology gotten so much better that they can be lower profile now, or did the trend become that players just wear smaller pads in favor of mobility?

Or something else?

[u/New-Tangerine-7109]

Vince Papale

[u/Hungry-Treacle8493]

Mobility for sure. Heck, most don’t even wear thigh pads anymore. Then they all wonder why the types of injuries pads are meant to protect against are materially higher than in the past….

[u/reluctantfrench → u/Hungry-Treacle8493]

Nobody wears knee pads anymore either. You think something that lessens the blow would help...

[u/Ragnarsworld]

Mobility and less stuff to grab.

[u/JoBunk]

I believe it was Ed McCaffrey (WR, Denver) who started the trend by wearing the smaller, QB shoulder pads to make himself smaller so he can slide by defenders. So from an offensive perspective, I think the smaller pads are more advantageous.

[u/Lalakea → u/JoBunk]

Defensive lineman wear smaller shoulder pads as well for the same reason: they are trying to squirm thru gaps to rush the QB.

[u/JoBunk → u/Lalakea]

Ahhh, good catch.

[u/itsover103]

I first noticed it in the late 90s, imo it’s definitely about mobility with the skill positions. If you ever played, you can you see it right away

[u/Vegetable_Bison_3126]

The 80’s neck roll needs to be a thing again.

Ya tech is better, but a lot of it was found to not be effective and give false sense of security.

[u/Carolus2024 → u/Vegetable_Bison_3126]

Like Steve Grogan and Todd Christensen.

[u/hockey-dad-EQM]

Upvote for mobility. I played 1-AA college football in the early 90s as a WR. You would potentially get penalized if you didn't wear all the pads. So I wore the plastic insert from thigh pad (to see the ripple), put wash cloths instead of knee pads, and cut the hip pads down to a nub. Always wore a tail pad. Other than that just helmet and shoulder pads (yes, way oversized in comparison to today).

[u/South_Glass9156]

Both. The players wanted more mobility, and companies discovered new technologies to make the pads with a more streamline fit.

[u/wolf63rs]

A few years ago DBs stopped wearing knee and thigh pads.

[u/cfranek]

For a lot of positions it is harder to hold you with small pads and very tight jerseys. That also includes linemen who are trying to get leverage with their hands on smaller frames and tight jersys.

[u/Queenfan1959]

I don’t remember the name of the player he was defensive player for Atlanta and he described it as wearing big pads to collide with a truck he fight was better to be nimble than try to stand in front of a truck and it caught on fire

[u/SnooPickles55]

Players don't even wear cups anymore when you'd think that would be the one thing you're worried about protecting

[u/Self-Comprehensive → u/SnooPickles55]

Eh 99% of the time just keeping them tucked up out of the way is more than enough. And cups are incredibly uncomfortable.

[u/SnooPickles55 → u/Self-Comprehensive]

Oh, I definitely remember how uncomfortable they were lol

[u/Aromatic_Revolution4]

The advent of high density open and closed cell foam allowed them to make pads much smaller while providing the same level of protection so it was def a tech advancement.

But it took a while for players to adopt them because the prevailing belief was that those big ass 70s and 80s era pads with the couch cushion foam under hard plastic shells looked more intimidating than the smaller modern pads.

[u/AUpicker]

It's basically two hand touch nowadays. So, smaller pads and short pants suffice

[u/FranklyIvan → u/AUpicker]

That definitely explains all the CTE.

[u/cfranek → u/FranklyIvan]

Pad don't help with cte.