Reader Email: Why Don't NFL Players Wear Mouthguards Like They Used To?
Dear Carl
I have seen a noticeable amount of nfl players not using their mouth guards during a game. Given the increase in awareness of brain related injuries and long-term damage, I find that disturbing.
That being said, was there anything better than the day you got your mouth guard in pee wee football? Dipping that sucker in hot water, than biting down to get the perfect fit for the season was great. I can still feel it molding on my teeth. Mouthguards were awesome.
- Stew
Thanks Stew. You raise a couple valid observations depending on what you consider valid. Personally I have found myself suspiciously watching the NFL over the last few years wondering why linebackers and quarterbacks and receivers etc. survive without a mouthpiece. Often times I'll find myself ACTIVELY LOOKING for evidence of a mouthguard where I find a particular player to be Of Risk. Like a Will Compton against a jumbo package or Peyton Manning taking a French dive in the pocket. Have you no appreciation for the delicacy of brain matter? As a sport predicated on preparation and fundamentals you would think mouthguard protocol would be more uniform at the highest level of competition, but what the fuck do I know.
My experience is limited to your own, Stew, in that it's extremely limited to boiling rubber ages 12-16. I want to actually say my first experience boiling my own pot of water was in 6th grade after one of the 8th graders rubbed my mouthguard on his balls. I had to get a new one in time for the next practice so I went to SportMart on my own. 12 year-old Carl walking the mean streets of Oak Lawn with a fistful of quarters trying to get a new mouthguard in time for 4pm practice at Our Lady of Lorretto. Shoutout to all my Hometown people. A lot of you guys wonder why I'm so fucked up - I was hanging out with the Hometown kids on the weekends through junior high. If you have any context to this you probably just had an aha moment. I had one yesterday with Juice & Sauce but I digress.
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This isn't about my time at Pizza Plus in an OLL Lancers windbreaker. This is about the fact that mouthguards are a fundamental component of youth sports and I feel like people completely forget about them as soon as you're done playing football.
Baseball gloves go on the fireplace mantle. Your bats are in warm storage, kept in the same bag from your last game. Probably still have your cleats somewhere - maybe even still in use if you're a savage and don't give a fuck about metal spike rules on the intramural softball field. If you're risk-tolerant enough to gamble with your ACL's on a pick-up basketball league, you keep your ball in a bag zipped up with your fancy fucking shoes. Same goes for me and bowling. Even though that's active participation I think you know the bond with your equipment is a little different.
But what about football? Basically the only thing you'll ever own on that field is your cup, mouthguard and shoes. And even then some of you rocket scientists don't cover your balls because it slows you down on the field and there are big plays to be made by You - an undersized reserve defensive back charged up on a pregame liter of N.O.-XPLODE. For all that sacrifice and commitment, the least you can do is maintain a steady relationship with your mouthguard.
Otherwise I'll need a lot of help understanding how one of the few things you actually truly own on a football field becomes so completely lost and forgotten in this society. The Marshall Faulk one itself should be on every football helmet in America if for no other reason than it looks sweet. Or Terrell Davis. Either or is fine by me as dominant running backs at the back-end of the 20th century with big mouthguards.
Germ management is also a pillar we don't even talk about. Mouthguard breaks off during the Oklahoma drill? You don't have time to think about it just rub the dirt off with your hand and get back in line. Everyone had that initial moment when you realize how disgusting that thing is and everyone has the realization it doesn't matter to put a little dirt in the mouth if you're about to lay some fucking lumber in practice. Those are learning lessons but none of them mean shit when you think about your brain leaking out of your ears. The fact NFL guys are willing to risk that so they can be more clearly yell WHITE EIGHTY makes no sense to me.
But again, what the fuck do I know.