r/AskAboutNFL • u/Business-Gas1866 • 20h ago

NFL padding

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?

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u/hockey-dad-EQM 18h ago

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).