When watching football on television you may notice that many NFL players seem to have no hair on their arms. This raises the question do NFL players shave their arms?
Generally, NFL players do not shave their arms. It is difficult to see something as small as arm hair through a camera on TV. Additionally, the skin tone of many players makes their body hair difficult to see.
This is why it may seem that many NFL players are hairless on their arms and legs.
That all being said the odd player does shave their arms and legs to avoid the pain of athletic tape. If you watch football often you have likely noticed that many players have tape on their arms and legs.
When removing this tape these football players will often have to painfully rip out a few hairs. After a while, this may become tiresome leading some players to shave the area where they often tape.
If you are enjoying this article on football players shaving their arms read about our guide to what football players drink during each game.
Do NFL players grease their arms?
Now that we are on the topic many fans wonder whether or not you are allowed to grease your arms when playing football. In theory, this would make it more difficult for defensive players to get a hold of you.
Unfortunately, you will not get to see this in action as the NFL does not allow players to put any sort of slippery substance on their arms.
In 1998 three offensive linemen on the Washington Redskins received fines for wearing a vaseline like substance on their arms.
The coach claimed that these linemen were wearing this substance due to the cold weather of this game. Though fan theories state that these linemen were quicker and smaller and liked to get downfield and block.
Adding vaseline to their arms would make the process of getting downfield easier. Defensive lineman and linebackers would have a tough time keeping this lineman in the backfield if they could not get a hold of them.
The NFL seems to consider this an unfair advantage as they immediately removed the players from the field. Once on the sideline the offensive lineman we forced to remove the substance and then returned to the game.
This is not the only sport in which lotion has been used on a player’s body. For any soccer fans you have likely heard of Adam Troare’s routine in which he covers himself in baby oil before each game.
This oil makes it nearly impossible for defenders to grab onto him. As a fast and strong player having oil on his arms helped him beat opponents that resorted to clutching and grabbing to stop him.
Though so far in the NFL no player has made headlines in many years about greasing up their arms.
Why do they tape their arms?
Now that you know the odd NFL player shaves their arms in order to avoid the pain of tape you may be wondering why they tape their arms.
Players in football tape their arms in order to avoid turf burn. When players fall and slide on their forearms and elbows they will often hurt their skin.
In order to avoid these pains players will place tape from their elbows up to their wrists.
Additionally, some players will tape their arms when dealing with an injury. An injury finger or wrist is the sort of thing that leads to a player taping their hands or arms.
