The main reason that football players wear hats on the sideline is to keep the sun/sweat out of their eyes and because helmets often mess up a player’s hair.
If you watch NFL games often you have likely noticed that when players head to the sideline they will take their helmet off and quickly replace it with a baseball cap.
The is leaves many fans wondering why players like quarterbacks always wear hats on the sidelines. To learn about other football equipment aside from hats learn if football players wear glasses or why some players utilize eye black to help them see better.
Keeping sun and sweat out of their eyes
One of the main reasons that football players put their hats on the sideline is to keep the sun and sweat out of their eyes.
If you have ever worn a football helmet before you know how sweaty your head/hair is going to get.
Once you take your helmet off on the sideline that sweat is going to start dripping down your face. Putting a hat on is going to allow the sweatband to stop sweat from dripping down your face and into your eyes.
This is done in many other sports by using a headband to collect the sweat.
Players also use the hat like most people do, to keep the sun out of their eyes. Many stadiums in the NFL are not domes meaning that the top of the stadium is open.
On sunny days this can make it difficult for players to see. This is especially true in sunny destinations like Miami.
Players will often use the hat to keep the sun off their faces allowing them to see the game.
Helmets are uncomfortable and mess up your hair
Another reason that players will often wear a baseball cap on the sideline in football is due to helmet hair.
When wearing a football helmet your hair is very likely to get sweaty and messy. Helmets in this sport are quite tight for safety reasons. This results in players’ hair becoming a mess when they take it off.
The tightness of the helmet also makes it quite uncomfortable to wear. Once you head to the sideline the first thing players want to do is take their tight helmets off.
When they do this their hair often becomes a mess. As a quick fix for this issue players can simply toss on a baseball cap and continue watching the game.
Staying Warm
As we stated earlier when wearing a helmet your head is going to become quite sweaty. When you remove the helmet on the sideline your head can get quite cold due to your damp hair.
In colder windy games having damp hair can make it quite chilly on the sidelines. By putting a hat on you are going to keep your head warmer.
Though if it is a truly cold game players are going to opt for beanies over a baseball cap.
Players will use more than just hats on the sidelines to stay warm, often large windproof jackets are used to keep in body heat.
They’re part of an unofficial uniform
Another reason that football players will wear hats on the sideline is that they are unofficially part of a team’s uniform.
On the sideline, it is commonplace for players to wear team apparel whether or not they are playing in the game.
One of these pieces of team apparel is the NFL sideline cap. Each year every NFL team will design and create a sideline hat for the season.
These sideline caps are given out to the players to wear during the game when they are not on the field.
Since these hats are made to be worn on the sideline many players will put this hat on when on the sideline because this is what they believe they should do.
In a way it allows the players to show their support for the team after they take their helmets off.
Do players have to wear hats on the sidelines?
Despite official sideline caps being made for each team players are not forced to wear hats on the sideline.
Wearing a hat is completely optional, though the majority of players wear these hats due to the reasons I have listed above.
That is all on football players wearing hats see our guides on why players don’t wear knee pads or learn about neck rolls in football.
If you are interested to learn about other things people wear on a football field check out why referees have straps on their wrists during the game.
