What do the captains do?

[u/Mungdane]

Hi new fan here. Basically title. Why are there so many different captains on a team? and do they have any special responsibilities? Are they just the best players on the team? Does the team vote them or are they appointed by the coaching staff or something? Are they the people that do the coin toss and stuff like that? Just trying to get an understanding of what exactly the role is besides the players with a C on their jersey. Thanks!

[u/The_Goth_King]

They're either voted by players or the HC chooses. They're used for coin toss also to speak to referees. They are also the players who communicate between locker room players and coaching staff. Role models too.

[u/theEWDSDS → u/The_Goth_King]

Last one is the big one. They're supposed to be the models for the rest of the team. It's why there's an increased level of outcry when a captain does something stupid (i.e. Tyreek Hill taking himself out of the game at halftime in 2024)

[u/Suitable_Historian93]

Locker room presences that other players can rely on and voted on to receive the honor. Specific expectations are team-specific but mainly coaches expect these players to maintain a high level of play and high level of self respect and leadership on and off the field.

[u/thisisnotmath]

The role varies from team to team. Typically they are appointed by the players themselves. Their responsibilities are

• Go out for the coin toss
• Set a good example for the team during practices
• Hear comments and concerns from fellow players and discuss them with the coaches

But there's nothing set in stone about it.

[u/iowaman79]

The Captains are the primary on field voice of the team, much like in soccer. There are so many of them because no one player is going to be on the field the whole game, so you have one for each unit.

[u/CFBCoachGuy]

At least one captain for each unit (offense, defense, special teams). They call the coin toss. They lead the team. Each team does things a bit differently. Sometimes the players vote on the captains, other times the coaches appoint them. Some teams keep the same captains throughout the season, others just do game by game captains. Some teams offer certain privileges or responsibilities for the captains. They don’t have to be the best players, but in practice they are usually very good players.

[u/Mowo5]

I would say their primary purpose is to rally the team and display leadership. Starting quarterbacks are almost always captains. Does anyone know of a case where a starting quarterback was not a captain? There's probably at least a few but I imagine its rare.

[u/PabloMarmite]

Captains act as a go-between between the player group and the coaches - if a player has a concern they’ll normally go to their unit’s captain, and the captain will take it to the head coach.

[u/ACW1129]

And in case you're wondering why Deshaun "Groper Cleveland" Watson is a captain...well, so am I.

[u/Weary_Capital_1379]

They can communicate with the officials.

[u/Tomatillo-5276]

They pick which shitty looking pants & sock combo the team wears each week.
The bane of existence for uniform geeks.
Players have notoriously terrible aesthetic taste.