During the NFL preseason, Miami Dolphins wide receiver, Tyreek Hill, was fined for the repetitive uniform violation of not wearing socks. Hills was outraged by this, flying to social media, saying, “NFL fining me more than 100k is classic NFL.” Although this may be surprising, this is not the first time that an NFL player has been fined for something as silly as not wearing socks.
During the 2022 season, JuJu Smith and his teammate, James Corner, both got fined for their socks being too low. They were fined “$5,000 each for their infractions.”
There was another incident in 2021, where Frank Gore, former 49ers running back, was fined $10,500 for the same violation as Smith and Corner.
Some players think being fined this amount is insane! It does seem unreasonable that the NFL fines that much for accidentally disobeying a silly sock rule.
Rams kicker, Matt Gay, was fined $5,000 due to his pants being too short. He thought it was pointless, and let everyone know his frustration in a social media post where he wore baggy pants that were a few sizes too big. In the post, he sarcastically said, “Thanks guys now I feel safe and can do my job super well.” He was also a little frustrated because, before the game started, the game inspector did not tell him his pants were too short, so he had no idea until he received the fine.
The same incident occurred with 49ers safety George Odum. In the 2022 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League, Rule 5, Section 4, Article 3 states “That pants must be worn over the entire knee area; pants shortened or rolled up to meet the stockings above the knee are prohibited.” When he entered the game, Odum was sure his pants fit this requirement. Unfortunately, at one point in the game, his pants lifted, exposing his knee.
The interesting thing is that this possibly could have been meant for Odum’s teammate. Odum could not find where his pants had lifted up, but he did find a picture of himself, where a player standing behind him had his knee exposed. It was hard to tell who the player was, so as a result, Odum might have gotten his teammates fine.
Overall, the NFL should focus more on the safety of the players than what they wear. Wearing low cut socks is not going to cause a player to get injured. This even annoys the players, which shows there is a bigger problem within the NFL.
