With Odell Beckham Jr. making mind-boggling catches and quarterbacks slinging the ball around in any kind of weather, Atlanta Falcons president and competition committee chairman Rich McKay says that the league might want to take a closer look at the gloves worn today.
“I think it’s time to go back and look at the gloves and see if, with what’s going on here with sports science in the past 10 years, if there isn’t too much of an advantage being gained,” McKay said, via the Los Angeles Times.
Hall of Fame wide receiver Tim Brown said Beckham’s play against Dallas would never happened without the gloves currently used in the game.
“You have to be careful about the way you analyze that play because you don’t want people calling you a hater or whatever,” Brown said. “But you can’t make that play without those kind of gloves. It’s just impossible.
“The guy’s a freak of nature, no doubt about it, I’ll give you that. He has the big hands and all that. But those gloves are so ‘tackified’ these days that that’s part of the reason you see guys making those kinds of catches.”
Stickum was banned in 1981, but little attention has been placed on the gloves since.
By Glenn Erby
