At the owners’ meetings in Atlanta Tuesday, the NFL owners voted to approve a measure that would require all NFL players to wear thigh and knee padding beginning with the 2013 season. The decision needs the NFLPA’s approval before becoming official, but it looks like we’re headed toward an NFL where everyone is required to wear the pads.
This issue has a special interest in Dallas, as Dez Bryant--who, from what we can gather from photos and memory, wears little to no padding from the waist down--was forced to miss a game after suffering a deep thigh bruise on a punt return in the season opener against the Jets.
Bryant isn’t alone in going conservative on the leg padding. A lot of players around the league, receivers and defensive backs in particular, don’t wear the pads because they believe they can play faster without--and it’s these players who will likely take issue with the league’s latest rule change.
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