How high school football uniform fits have evolved from ‘bigger the better’ to tight like ‘bike shorts’
When T.J. Wiley stepped onto the football field in high school, uniform fashion wasn’t at all what it is today.
The 1998 Titusville High School graduate, now coaching Knoch, said he looked like a storm trooper while wearing massive shoulder pads and a baggy jersey and pants.
“My son and other kids, when they see film of teams from the ’90s, they’re like, ‘Oh, my God, they look so big and boxy,’” Wiley said. “We thought we looked cool.”
Butler senior receiver Tyson Pino, whose uniform is comparably vacuum sealed onto him, didn’t feel the same way.
“I just kinda laugh because (the old uniforms) look kinda dumb,” Pino said. “There’s no way I’d be able to catch a ball in those shoulder pads.”
The loose-fitting style was popularized by 1990s linebackers such as former Ohio State star Andy Katzenmoyer and University of Miami and Baltimore Ravens legend Ray Lewis.
“Everybody wanted the bigger, bulkier shoulder pads,” Wiley said. “Big was cool. ... You look at the old Cowboy Collar, neck rolls, just all those accessories.”
“The bigger the better,” said Butler coach Eric Christy, who played for the Golden Tornado during that decade. “You had to cover everything, so every pad covered every part of your body. So if you catch any of my old high school pictures, you’d be like, ‘Why are your hip pads that big? Like, sitting outside your pads?’”
If players didn’t tuck their jerseys in while wearing them to school on game days, they would almost hang past their knees. Today, players don’t even want to wear their pants that low.
“You look today, in big-time college football and pro football, heck, it looks like they’re wearing bike shorts,” Wiley said. “They’re not even covering their knees anymore. ... (If) you watch film from back in the day until now, the uniform has changed significantly.”
Rolling pants up past the knees isn’t permitted during high school games, even though Pino argues the style allows him to be more mobile. Wiley went without thigh pads for a game while playing professional indoor football.
“Yeah, that was a mistake,” Wiley said.
The shift to sleek arrived as Wiley was playing at Thiel College. He didn’t like how constricting it was at first, as getting pads on and off became a group effort. However, blockers and tacklers aren’t able to get as firm a grip on tighter uniforms.
Nowadays, jerseys hug torsos and pads tight. Players wear tape, armbands, sleeves, tights, eye black and other accessories.
“They call it ‘the drip’ and ‘their swag’ and all that,” Wiley said. “I feel like you could open a door and they’d be there saying ‘trick-or-treat’ with the eye black and (everything else) on. I barely wore anything (extra) when I played. I wore a play wristband, maybe eye black every now and again and, if I wanted to get funky, I’d spat (heavily tape shoes tighter to the foot and ankle) my shoes.”
Christy also considers himself a traditionalist, but understands why his players like adding a touch of individuality.
“If everyone walked out and looked the exact same, that would make me happy as can be, but I also know they’ve gotta be individuals and be able to express themselves,” Christy said.
