As we’ve mentioned a couple of times in the Ticker, Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey went a bit uni-rogue by wearing yellow socks in the team’s second and third games of this season. (He wore white in the season opener.) He was apparently fined for those hosiery high jinks and griped about that on Saturday, telling reporters:
I’m going to continue to get fined because I’m going to be swaggy out there. I’m going to wear the same thing this week too, so I’m ready for the fine. Come on with it, right?
So did Ramsey put his money where his mouth is by once again wearing yellow socks again for last night’s game against the 49ers? See for yourself:
Hmmm. Maybe the yellow socks got held up in the supply chain.
Personally, I like the yellow hose, especially with the blue pants (much better than the blue-on-blue leotard effect). But I hate the way NFL hosiery has become such a free-for-all — no uniformity, players wearing whatever they want, just a jumble of mismatched looks. If the NFL’s fines help rein that in a little, I’m all for it.
Meanwhile, Ramsey has now worn three sock colors in four games, which must be some kind of record.
what is that shirt that hangs out from under their jersey? I know I am a dork for this but it looks so sloppy.
It’s an elastic base layer, and I agree – it looks hideously sloppy.
The T-shirt/skirt hanging out under the jersey has become a thing the last few years and it is not a get-off-my-lawn situation to say it is completely sloppy and unprofessional.
It’s a terrible trend. You look like slobs.
I assume it’s just an undershirt to wear under the pads, a lot of football players at the college and NFL level wear it untucked like that which looks pretty sloppy.
Agreed …I can’t believe with how the NFL is with uniforms, they let this go…. they fine for sock color but ignore that? I don’t understand it at all.
Who says they ignore it? They fine guys for it — but the players don’t care. Drop in the bucket for them. They’re gonna look the way they wanna look.
I know right?! All these players talk about “drip” and “swag” and whatever you call looking good these days, and half of them have shirt tails hanging out that look like a skirt or make them look like a homeless bum. Do they not get fined for that?! It looks stupid, sloppy, and the opposite of uniform. Clean that mess up, NFL!
Yes, they get fined. But they don’t care — it’s pocket change to them.
So what is the NFL’s actual sock policy now? He can’t wear the yellow ones because they aren’t officially part of the uniform? But players can choose to not wear the actual sock and just wear white instead? That is allowed?
I’m 100% on board with fines for sock violations, but then why do we see so many teams that have players wearing different socks each week. Even in this game some players on the Niners had red, while others were going with white.
White (instead of official sock color) has been allowed for a few seasons now.
That’s what I thought. Given that, the NFL asked for a situation like this with a player going with completely different socks. If the team has a sock color that is part of the uniform (which most teams did/do) then allowing options just opened the floodgates for this nonsense.
I am guessing you have have written about it before, but is there a reason why they suddenly started getting flexible with socks a few years ago?
If the issue is players wanting to wear long tights, isn’t the better solution to make the tights the color the sock is supposed to be, instead of just going with the all white look?
I haven’t been much of a fan of the all white sock look, especially if it doesn’t really complement the rest of the uniform, and then you may end up with the white legging look. Also can never fully understand individual players wearing socks to not match the rest of the team but if paying that fine is a justifiable cost of self-expression, who am I to judge?
The blue pant/yellow socks would look so much better if the pants were knickers and not bike shorts.
Count me as one who hates the matching pants and sock trend. And pants with no side stripes look even worse. And don’t get me started with same color jersey/pants/socks.
You want Sock Policy, I give you Major League Baseball. From last Friday’s Mariners Game, this image has no less than 5 different sock/stirrup/shoe color applications (among those who show socks)
link
Aren’t they technically sleeves, not socks?
I’d say they’re technically tights or leggings. But I’m using “socks” as a catchall.
Not to go completely off on a tangent here, but IMO this is an example of players from other sports trying to personalize themselves. Many NFL & MLB players are striving to differentiate themselves in hopes of catching up with the NBA stars in terms of a “personal brand”
The NBA lost complete control of this type of thing about 10 years ago. Socks, sneakers, leggings, single leg legging, base layers, undershirts, shooting sleeves, etc.
I am old & I am a classicalist but wrong colored base layers & leggings are so hard to ignore. Florescent or completely unrelated color sneakers/cleats are brutal and down right distracting
Completely agree with you on this. The NBA is un-uni-watchable today. I would rather watch an old game from the 80s or 90s on YT. Too many players wearing their own individual look.
It is also an example of the practice gear mentality: players want to express that a game is nothing more to them than a practice game with an audience. So they dress accordingly. We call it sloppy, they shrug and say: who are working their tails off? We are. So we dress how we like. Fine us? Peanuts to us. I do not judge them for thinking like this, it is just a total different mentality than what I am used to. I was taught that dressing up properly for a game is a sign of team unity and respecting the team/club.