Question from a baseball umpire

[JR12]

After halftime during the Cowboys-Ravens game, they showed the Cowboys leaving the locker room and a referee was "patting down" some of the players jerseys as they exited, but not all of them. Looked like just linemen.
What was he checking thier jersey or pads for?

[SethPDX]

Answer from a baseball guy:

I remember reading something about officials making spot checks for illegal substances on the uniforms. Something about guys putting greasy stuff on their jerseys to make it harder to grab onto them.

[HLin NC]

Thanks for asking. That was my guess- Vaseline on the jerseys.

[grantsrc]

Originally Posted by SethPDX

Answer from a baseball guy:

I remember reading something about officials making spot checks for illegal substances on the uniforms. Something about guys putting greasy stuff on their jerseys to make it harder to grab onto them.

Exactly. Last year I was fortunate enough to work a state championship game at the Jones Dome in St. Louis. We dressed in the officials locker room and they left behind one of their illegal substances cards. As I recall it was for a few Browns players. I never realized this was an issue in the NFL.

[bossman72]

Originally Posted by HLin NC

Thanks for asking. That was my guess- Vaseline on the jerseys.

Jeez, everyone knows you use PAM cooking spray...

[daggo66]

I once read umpire Chad Brown's book. I believe it was titled "The Meatgrinder" or something like that. It mentioned that each week players were randomly chosen to have their uniforms checked for illegal substances before the game.

[Texas Aggie]

Vaseline on the jerseys.

The rule used to be "foreign substances." So as long as the vaseline was made in America, we are OK!!

[BigTex]

It was the Cowboys locker room......they could have been looking for guns or drugs.