Mane Madness: Troy Polamalu and Others Risk Losing Long Hair on the Field

On any given Sunday watching the Cincinnati Bengals play, you could hear me yelling, "I love that guy, but I hate his hair!" as T.J. Houshmanzadeh jogged down the field with a single braid peeking out the back of his helmet. His hair wasn't even that long, but it drove me crazy. If he started growing that braid out until the Bengals won another Super Bowl, you might be able to wrap it around Paul Brown stadium twice, but that's another article.

If I wasn't crazy about a tiny braid, you can imagine what I felt watching Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers play. He's Rapunzel to Houshmanzadeh's Pippi Longstocking. It's been nagging me for years: Why are these guys playing with hair that ridiculously long? These are football players, not supermodels.

It's enough to make anyone itch trying to figure out how on earth it's comfortable wearing a football helmet on a hot day over dreadlocks that long. Not to mention, they are serious hazards for neck injuries. It makes your own neck hurt thinking about it. The NFL doesn't state any rules about hair-pulling, though. Football has never been a ladies' sport so why should they?

Apparently the NFL has been thinking this over, too. No, not thinking about an addendum for hair-pulling rules, but considering nixing long-locks hanging out of helmets altogether. Up until now, loose locks have been fair game.

Many players are well aware of the hair-pulling rule and make sure they use it to their advantage. Tennessee Titans linebacker, Keith Bulluck, told reporters, "If I see a guy running with the ball and he has long hair, I'll tackle him by it, sure." Patriots linebacker, Mike Vrabel has also been guilty of grabbing locks to make a tackle and was quoted saying, "Sure it's legal; I'll do it."

Ouch. You would think that would deter guys from growing long locks, but Laurence Maroney (Patriots), Corey Mays (Bengals), Lamont Thompson (Jaguars), Reynaldo Hill (Titans), R.W. McQuarters (Giants), Al Harris (Packers), Mike McKenzie (Saints) and too many to list have all sported long locks in their pro careers.

Larry Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs took advantage of Polamalu's mane in 2006 and downed him after an interception against the Chiefs. Ironically, the proposal of banning lengthy locks was made by Kansas City. It's not that they want them to line up, military -style and endure buzz cuts. They just want them to tuck the hair up inside helmets. Just like babies are attracted to pulling hair, so is a desperate linebacker when his team is about to be scored on. Eliminate the hair, eliminate the issue.

However, consider how difficult it would be to tuck thick dreadlocks under a helmet. Unless they plan on making helmets in a bigger size, that means some barbers in ball towns are going to be busy if the new rule passes and takes effect.

Polamalu isn't the only player who has made news from mane madness on the field. Ricky Williams, a former runningback for the Miami Dolphins was also the victim of dreadlock tug-of-wars on two separate occasions. Williams told reporters who asked about the pain of such a takedown, "You ever been stepped on by a 300-pound defensive lineman? That hurts, too."

In an ESPN SportsNation poll, 58.6% of 10,442 votes say that the NFL should not regulate hair that covers the name on the back of the jersey. 41.3% think it should be regulated.

Those who don't think it should be regulated are saying that getting rid of the hair would take away a player's individuality and think individuality is what makes the game more fun. Those opposed are saying that our military has to maintain uniform appearance standards and so do others for their jobs. Why not the NFL too?

Some of those opposed compared the proposition to ban long hair to the elimination of touchdown celebratory dances. While nobody has ever been seriously injured dancing after a touchdown, there are safety concerns to be thought about when a player is playing with flowing tresses. In no other job are you allowed to wear long hair if you work around machinery or other hazards where your hair could get caught. Why should the NFL be any different? A 300 lb guy tackling someone by the hair can exude just as much force as an industrial machine.

You can't really say that a guy can only show individuality by the length of his hair.

Just ask Chad Johnson and his creative use of hair dye and gleaming gold grill. You play the game, you play it well, or you have a really magnetic personality and people are going to know who you are regardless of the length of your hair.

NFL authorities are meeting on Monday, March 31^st to discuss the issue amongst other possible rule changes.