Black Pants Policy for your State

[Rich]

Originally Posted by GoodwillRef

This year Wisconsin is allowing us to wear the black football pants for the first time. In all language from the NF and the WIAA regards the pants as "foul" weather pants. In my mind and a lot of the officials in our state "foul" means cold, rainy, and muddy conditions. At our rules meeting last week the told us we had to wear long sleeve shirts or a jacket to be allowed to wear the black pants. What about that Sept night when it is 75 degrees out but were are working in a rain storm? If we want to wear the black pants we have to overheat in long sleeve or a jacket (we don't wear jackets ever don't think it looks professional). Our state is now saying they are "cold" weather pants, but on their website under Official Manual changes it says "foul" weather pants and no stipulations are made when you can and can't where the black pants.

My question for you is how does your state handle wearing the black pants (if you are allowed to at all)?

I had an email back and forth with the office on this very issue. They aren't budging. It's long sleeves or no black pants. If we don't like it, we can take it up with the Officials Advisory committee where the request (along with the black shirts for baseball) will die a quick death.

My crew, I guess, will be in long sleeves earlier this year if we have mud. I'll pull the sleeves up a bit if I get warm. I'm not ruining another pair of knickers (I went through 2 last year where I just gave up trying to clean them) on a mudder now that I have 2 pair of the black pants.