The Functionality of NFL Gear

Anyone who has tuned into an NFL game understands the importance of equipment in professional football. Every inch of a player's body is shielded by specialized protective gear.

Have you ever thought about the origin of all this gear, what players wear, or how teams handle the massive amount of equipment required for each game? In this article, we’ll explore the locker room of the Carolina Panthers, an NFL team located in Charlotte, N.C., and uncover what it takes to prepare for game day — starting with the equipment manager!

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Equipment Management

Professional football subjects players to extreme physical demands — imagine being repeatedly struck by a 230-pound force, such as a linebacker, moving at high speeds! Without protective gear, the game would be unplayable, as injuries would incapacitate the entire team instantly. Even with the equipment, players must be in peak physical condition to withstand the intense impacts they face.

Thank you!

Special thanks to Atlanta Falcons equipment manager Brian Boigner, Carolina Panthers equipment manager Jackie Miles, and Falcons cornerback Juran Bolden for their invaluable assistance with this article.

Equipment plays a vital role in professional football, and an NFL team utilizes an enormous quantity of it! Some items, like balls, helmets, jerseys, and shoes, are visible during games. However, much of it remains unseen, such as protective pads. There’s also equipment that often goes unnoticed, like the cleats attached to players’ shoes or the practice sweats worn by the team. Some items are surprisingly unexpected, including chemical hand-warmers, heated benches, and even chewing gum. All of this is multiplied by 53, the number of players on a team’s roster during the regular season.

This multiplier transforms equipment management into a fascinating logistical challenge for any team. For instance, an average NFL team goes through approximately 2,500 pairs of shoes in a single season! Someone must meticulously track every item, or the team simply can’t function.

Equipment Manager's Duties

The position of equipment manager has grown into a critical role for every NFL team. This role encompasses two major areas of responsibility:

These dual responsibilities have elevated equipment management to both an art and a highly demanding position within any NFL team. For the Carolina Panthers, this crucial role is managed by Jackie Miles.

The Locker Room

Miles' role is fascinating, encompassing everything from understanding each player’s unique preferences and injury history to ensure optimal protection, to ensuring all necessary gear is readily available in the locker room.

It also includes managing an astonishing array of parts stored in bins, cabinets, racks, and crates.

Other Necessities

While you might associate the equipment manager with uniforms, pads, shoes, and footballs, their responsibilities are far broader — they even handle stocking the chewing gum players use!

As evident, the role of an NFL equipment manager is one of the most complex and detailed jobs out there! At its core, it’s all about ensuring each player is individually protected. In the upcoming sections, we’ll explore the various pieces of gear that make this protection possible.

Stock Up!

A regulation NFL football measures 11 inches (28 cm) in length and approximately 28 inches (71 cm) in circumference at its widest point. As per the NFL Rules Digest, "The home team must provide 36 balls for outdoor games and 24 for indoor games, available for pressure testing by the referee two hours before kickoff to meet league standards. Twelve (12) new footballs, sealed in a special box and delivered by the manufacturer, will be opened in the officials’ locker room two hours before the game. These balls, marked with the letter 'k,' are reserved exclusively for kicking plays."

The Helmet

The helmet is crucial for protecting the head from injuries, as a concussion can sideline a player instantly. To ensure optimal safety, the equipment manager’s priority is to provide each player with a helmet that fits perfectly. Starting from the top, a player’s gear begins with the helmet and a mouth guard.

The helmet is made up of several distinct components:

Since the NFL permitted wireless communication in regular-season games in 1994, quarterbacks have had coaches constantly in their ears. Instead of calling timeouts to relay plays, many teams now use radios inside their quarterback’s helmet. While traditionalists may argue this creates an unfair edge, supporters claim it ensures clear communication between coaches and quarterbacks, even in loud environments like the Super Bowl.

As reported in a press interview with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the sound quality is decent, but external noise can interfere. “It’s similar to hearing something over a loudspeaker,” explained Bucs QB Shaun King. “When the crowd gets loud, it can be challenging to hear, but the clarity is generally good.”

The helmets are equipped with a small speaker in each ear hole. Coaches, such as the quarterback coach or offensive coordinator, communicate with the quarterback via radio, providing specific plays and strategies.

To learn more about the development and modern applications of this wireless communication, check out "A Wireless Superbowl."

Fitting a Helmet

Two essential tools for the fitting process are calipers and the inflation bulb.

Miles begins the fitting process by using calipers to measure the player’s head. Based on these measurements, he selects a helmet shell of the correct size and style. Padding is then added to ensure the helmet fits the player’s head perfectly.

The padding includes both foam-rubber pads and inflatable air pads. The top and side padding feature inflatable bladders that allow for a customized fit. Once the helmet is positioned on the player’s head, Miles uses the inflator bulb at two external points on the helmet.

Next, Miles fits jaw pads to secure the lower part of the helmet against the player’s face. The helmets used by most NFL teams are incredibly lightweight, and once the pads are in place, the helmet feels almost "glued on" — it remains stable and immovable, as if it’s an extension of the player’s head.

The Face Mask

The next component of the helmet is the face mask, which is selected by the player. The Panthers stock 15 different styles to choose from.

Get This!

After every game, Miles and his team begin preparing the equipment. They replace up to 15 face masks due to damage. Each week, all helmet decals are removed and replaced, the shells are scrubbed with an SOS pad, and then polished with Future floor wax.

After selecting a face mask, the player picks a chin strap from the available styles, and Miles ensures it’s properly fitted.

Another essential piece of headgear is the mouth guard. These are simple plastic half-moons with a strap that attaches to the player’s face mask to prevent loss during play. Fitting a mouth guard is straightforward: it’s softened in warm water, then placed in the player’s mouth to create an imprint of their teeth and gums. As it cools, the plastic hardens, forming a custom-fit mouth guard unique to the player.

The final piece of equipment for head and neck protection is the neck roll. This foam roll fits around the back of the jersey’s neckline, designed to prevent the head from being pushed too far back or to reduce the impact when the head snaps backward.

The Shoulder Pads

Beyond protecting the head and neck, safeguarding the player’s body is equally crucial. This is where body pads come into play. These pads shield the body during tackles, sacks, and pile-ups that occur throughout the game. The player’s jersey and pants cover these protective pads.

Four key pieces of equipment are designed to protect a player’s body:

The shoulder pads are arguably the most complex pieces of gear players wear. They feature a hard plastic shell with foam padding underneath, covering the shoulders, chest, and rib area. Secured with snaps and buckles, shoulder pads give football players their iconic "broad-shouldered" appearance.

For the Panthers, Miles stocks 12 different styles of shoulder pads, tailored to each position, with four sizes available per style. Custom fitting and padding options are also offered to accommodate each player’s body type and injury history.

Shoulder pads serve two primary purposes for the player:

Body Pads

To protect the ribs, hard plastic is incorporated into the front and back of the pads, along with a flak-jacket extension for players who face greater exposure.

For linemen, specialized attachments are added to the pads to make them harder to grab during play.

The inside of shoulder pads is lined with foam padding. Miles can use Velcro to attach extra pads for added protection or to relieve pressure on an injury by bridging over it.

The shoulder pads are concealed beneath the jersey. Without the pads, the jersey tends to be loose on players. However, it’s tailored to fit snugly when the player wears the pads.

Below the waist, players select pads based on their position and any injuries. A fully equipped player wears various pads, including hip pads, knee pads, and thigh pads. Multiple styles of knee and thigh pads are available for players to choose from.

These pads are placed into pockets inside the player’s pants before they suit up.

The Jersey and Pants

The visible parts of the uniform are the jersey and pants. These garments primarily serve to identify the player by name, number, and team colors. Jerseys often feature patches, such as the NFL logo, team logo, and, if applicable, Super Bowl and Pro-Bowl logos.

The jersey is made of nylon on the front and back, with spandex side panels to ensure a snug fit. This design makes it challenging, if not impossible, for an opponent to grab the jersey and use it for leverage. To enhance this:

Players individually decide which of these features, if any, they will utilize.

The pants also blend nylon and spandex for a tight, secure fit:

Each Panthers player receives a set of practice jerseys (one each in white, black, and the team’s color) and four game jerseys — two in color or black and two in white. Players switch jerseys at halftime if it’s raining. Practice pants are available in both nylon and mesh (for hot weather), while game pants come in white and silver.

Hands and Feet

Without hand protection, receivers couldn’t catch the ball, and without foot protection, players would be prone to injuries. This is why gloves and shoes, or cleats, are essential.

Many receivers wear gloves with sticky rubber palms, known as tact gloves, or coated with substances like rosin or sticky spray. Linemen also wear gloves — not for catching but to protect their hands while battling opposing linemen. These gloves often have thick padding to safeguard fingers and hands, which can get caught in face masks or stepped on during pile-ups. Players are prohibited from applying gels or "stick 'ems" to their gloves.

Shoes

Shoes play a significant role in professional sports for two primary reasons:

Wearing the wrong shoes can cause knee injuries if they stick to the turf. NFL teams play on both Astroturf and natural grass, and game-day surfaces can vary from dry to damp, wet, or icy. Conditions can even shift mid-game. Each surface and condition demands a specific type of shoe, and it’s the equipment manager’s responsibility to anticipate these needs and ensure every player has the right footwear.

The walls of a team’s equipment room are lined with boxes of shoes in countless styles and sizes. Players with shoe contracts can request specific footwear via overnight delivery, and many order a new set of shoes weekly. Incredibly, an NFL team can go through 2,500 pairs of shoes in a single season! (Most teams donate used shoes to local high schools.)

Astroturf Treads

When playing on Astroturf, three general shoe styles are used, depending on the weather. The aim is to use the least amount of sole possible: For dry conditions, very light soles are ideal. For damp conditions, a slightly thicker sole is more suitable. In wet conditions, the team switches to "Destroyers," which have much thicker soles.

Cleats

An Astroturf field is essentially a thin layer of padding and carpet over an asphalt base, making it extremely harsh and a common cause of knee and ankle injuries. Players prefer natural grass fields, and the type of field often influences a player’s decision when choosing a team. On natural grass, players can wear molded-bottom shoes like these:

While molded-bottom shoes are more comfortable and often worn during practice, they lack adaptability to changing conditions. For this reason, Miles prefers players to wear seven-stud cleats on grass fields.

Cleats are available in four sizes:

Miles maintains a database of every field and its surface conditions, which is updated throughout the season. For instance, Green Bay and San Francisco have notably soft fields due to high moisture levels.

If rain interrupts a game, Miles and his team face a significant challenge. On grass fields, they must replace the cleats on all 53 pairs of shoes using electric stud drivers. On Astroturf, the task is more complex, as players need to switch shoes entirely. Many players tape their shoes and use custom orthopedics, requiring the staff to untape, transfer orthopedics, and retape each pair. With 53 players, this process is repeated 106 times — a daunting task in rain or snow.

On the Road

One of the most fascinating aspects of NFL equipment management is handling away games. Here’s a comprehensive list of everything the Panthers (and likely most other NFL teams) take on the road:

For cold-weather games, additional trunks are packed with:

All this gear is loaded into the cargo hold of the team’s chartered jet. It’s an incredible process and a tremendous amount of work to ensure an NFL team is ready to hit the field.

Did You Know?

The sports drink Gatorade was created by Dr. Robert Cade at the University of Florida to provide support for the university’s football team, the Gators.