Spats and shoe freedom

The NFL uniforms compared to the college uniforms are ugly. Plain and simple, they just don't compare to how those college kids rock their jerseys. You would think that professional players would be granted a little more leeway in terms of dress code, but they aren't.

If your shirt tail hangs out, you're fined. Socks down around your ankles, fined. If you're not wearing the ugly socks, fined and the list goes on and on.

You know what NFL, you win. We understand that if you bend the rules on the NFL dress code, you'll have players sending messages through uniform modifications that may not reflect or convey the NFL properly. Cool, you don't want a player to write "Obama" on his wrist band, because that could turn off Republican or non-Obama supporters off the NFL. The players aren't the league, they are representatives of the league and they should be privileged to play in the NFL yadda yadda yadda, we know. I said you win didn't I?

I do make this request let us have the socks and shoes please. That's all we want is the socks and shoes! The godfather of 6Magazine, Deion Sanders, once said, "If you look good you feel good, If you feel good you play good, If you play good they pay good."

To the NFL player, their occupation is a great career, a very lucrative and enjoyable career, but still a career. There are tons of people who have careers that love/like/enjoy them. They enjoy them better when they have a cool CEO that allows the employees to be themselves a little bit and not be so buttoned up. Companies that allow casual work environments are great and often very successful. Employees are chipper, having fun, and this makes them want to work ten times harder for their CEO because they are giving them some room to be who they are.

Too often in the business world, an employee's main focus is blend in and represent the company. The NFL capitalizes of players all the time, I mean you know the real reason why although Chad Johnson's name was legally changed to Ocho Cinco, he still had to wear the Chad "Johnson" jersey last season right? Well if you don't, in short, the NFL did not have any printed "Ocho Cinco" jerseys and they would have lost money by not selling the "Chad Johnson" jerseys and by making new Ocho Cinco jerseys. Pure business move.

An even better business move, give the players more leeway with their socks and shoes. You could keep it uniformed and only allow players to wear socks and shoes of their team colors or designated shoe color. Let the players wear colored shoes, of their team colors of course. Allow the players to tape their shoes with tape of the same color. This would elimnate the ugliness that plagues NFL jerseys, those damn ugly ass socks. I admire players who find a way to make it look good, but the rule is stupid, there is no need for a white sock.

Why is this a better business move? The players will look good, they will feel good, they will play good, and if they play good, the NFL will get paid good. Fans will be into new look and feel of the NFL. High school and college kids will be more entranced by the game. Imagine a fresh tape job on a New Orleans Saints uniform or even the Miami Dolphins. Of course, the players will be playing at an all time high, feeling free to be who they truly are and look fresh at the same time. NFL records will be broken by the droves and the NFL will be caked up with more money that it ever imagined. Heck, the NFL could even brand the socks and the tape, much like the NBA does with their socks.

Mr. Goodell, you're a fine owner, leader, and a great business man. Make a fashion statment. Give the players their sock and shoe freedom back!

That's all I got,


Ricky Writer