(Some) Football players swear that rubbing eye black (greasy black stuff) under their eyes somehow reduces glare. While I have my doubts that it really does much of anything to block glare, who am I to tell some manly football player that he’s wearing nothing more than makeup. It seems like every game the networks find one of these players who has eye black running down his face, and offers him up as a visual icon to us viewers about the struggle that is going on the field.
Give me a break. This isn’t a testiment to how hard the game is. It’s an example of why football players shouldn’t be wearing makeup during football games, it smears.
If that wasn’t bad enough, now they are decorating their eye black with numbers and glitter as if the game was a craft show. And to boot, it’s not even that shoe polish looking eye black, where you dip your finger in it and smear it under you eyes. Now they are wearing eye black that is packaged like band-aids (this is all the rage in college football, but I have seen it in the NFL, too), and sold as eye black strips. The biggest testament to how ridiculous this is, is that they are the exact same eye black strips that the sorority girls decorate and wear in the stands.
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I spotted DeAngelo Hall on monday night football wearing a decorated eye black strip with “mv 7″ decoration on it. Come on DeAngelo, as if wearing eye black strips wasn’t bad enough, you have to wear them in support of Michael Vick. I realize you guys are old buds, but the dude was sentenced to two years in prison today for being a criminal.
i know my high school leauge doesent allow you to ware craz disings but like how regie bush wore his with the gold numbers was cool looking. what people dont relize is lots of stuff sold for football is all about looks. bicept bands, visors (the under armour mirrior ones are iligal in high school to) its a real shame they looked bad ass and lots of under armour sleaves and **** like that. its all about how you look, it may sound dumb to people who dont play but if ya look like a bad ass some little bitch kids wont even **** with ya out on the field.
ted on June 18th, 2008 at 3:42 pm | Link
Hey ted, me thinks you aren’t in high school.
If you were, you would have enough gray matter to spell illegal, league, dosen’t, wear, crazy, designs, reggie, realize, mirror, too, sleeves.
Sounds to me like a middle schooler.
Oh and the grammar was off also : ).
Anyway, the article makes sence, as much as I think it helps, the Chris Hovans of the league seem to wear it as fasion.
Alex on August 17th, 2008 at 5:10 pm | Link
“A 2003 study by Brian DeBroff and Patricia Pahk tested whether black eye grease actually had anti-glare properties. The subjects of the study were divided into three groups: wearers of eye black, wearers of antiglare stickers, and wearers of petroleum jelly. The subjects’ vision was tested using an eye chart while being exposed to natural sunlight. The study concluded that eye black reduced glare of the sun and improved contrast sensitivity, whereas commercial antiglare stickers and petroleum jelly (the control substance) were found to be ineffective. A further study which set to improve DeBroff’s methodology also found eye black to reduce glare from the sun, but less so in blue-eyed individuals and males.”
–Wikipedia
So, yeah, eye black actually does work. I speak from experience, having used it during a few high school football games. I agree that the decorated eye black strips are ridiculous, though, as well as apparently being proved ineffective by scientific method.
Malaclypse the Younger on September 8th, 2008 at 8:28 pm | Link
Eye Black is thew shiznitt, nothing like standing over a receiver passedout on the field after you just crushed him like a “BUG” and as he opens his eyes first thing he sees his your “EYE BLACK” hahaha
Olympic High School
Class of ‘86
dude on October 3rd, 2008 at 10:23 am | Link