Football Fetish: The Spat

The absolute best look in football, undoubtedly, is the spat, the over-the-cleat ankle tape job worn for support and style. In case you're scratching your head: Spats are cloth coverings that fit over the top portion of shoes or boots. Football players don't wear actual spats, but the way they tape their ankles sometimes makes it look that way. Who wants to wear clunky black cleats with high white socks? Nobody! Not to mention black cleats with low white socks, this look is enough to get a player snatched off the field and beaten by the fashion police. And the spat is completely functional: Having played football in both high school and college, I can't imagine what I would have done without the spat. My favorite is the black on black spat, which consists of a black cleat wrapped with black tape. Athletes at Auburn, Missouri, Miami, Colorado, Michigan, and Ohio State employ the use of spats. Spats are sometimes used when a player injures an ankle. If you look closely in some games a player will have one shoe spatted in order to protect an old injury or help support a new one. Jasper Brinkley of South Carolina wore a single spat against Vandy last night.

Spatting is part of the grossly overlooked subsection of gridiron stylings. Other overlooked football fashion basics are visors, towels, tape belts, and any different combination of arm and leg adornments. In the words of Deion Sanders “If you look good you feel good. If you feel good you play good. If you play good they pay good.” Therefore, spats are the key to financial success for any football player.

The godfather of the spatted look was Colts halfback Lenny Moore The short version is that it provided more ankle support. Moore whose nickname was, of course, "Spats" is the only player whose tape was restricted to the upper part of the shoe. The more typical version involves taping under the bottom of the shoe, making sure that it does not come off in the heat of battle. Because the tape can obscure the Nike and Reebok logos, the manufacturers have responded by moving their logos toward the toe of the shoe instead of on the side of the shoe.

Manufacturer guidelines in the NFL have become so specific that Nike and Reebok will end a sponsorship agreement with a player if they do not go spat-free. This was the case for many of the New England Patriots who chose to spat-up for the super bowl. In fact, it was a dispute over this very issue that led Auburn to switch from Nike shoes to New Balance. Word on the street is that Nike was upset that Auburn was taping over the swoosh on the star running backs Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams a few years back, to protect ankles, nothing devious to spite Nike. Rumor also has it that Nike dropped Auburn over it. Auburn now has an athletic apparel sponsorship from Under Armor. This issue that Auburn had with Nike can be viewed as a spat over spats, as it were.

Oregon is king of football uniforms, that is a fact that was handed down to us football brethren by Nastradamus. However, if you look closely during a game you will notice that some of the players who undoubtedly have a subscription to GQ and choose to adorn themselves with spats in accordance with high fashion values. So next time you see a tailback break through the line and cut left know he could not have done it unless he was spatted up! DO WORK SON!

Peace, Clayborne Versace