Jersey Wearing 101: 8 Essential Rules to Abide By

on 05 10, 2010

After being in Green Bay at Lambeau Field during week 1 of the NFL season and being in Chicago at Soldier Field for week 2, one thing that caught my eye was the inappropriate jersey wearing that was rampant among fans. Many people think they know the rules of jersey wearing but they’re often not spoken of and many times people neglect these rules. I have made it my personal mission to give the rules of NFL jersey wearing. Please note these same rules do not apply to any other sport, although some of these rules are universal.

1.  Jersey must be an active player, a hall-of-fame player or a player who was a staple in that teams recent or general history.

To me, this is the most important but yet most broken rule of jersey wearing. If I have to see another Cedric Benson or Anthony Thomas jersey at Soldier Field, or a Samkon Gado jersey at Lambeau, I think I will puke.

This rule seems easy to obey, yet, often times team’s actions of trading a player penalize a fan who bought that players jersey. You can only wear a traded played jersey if that player was a staple for that team for years and was productive in his time. A good example of this is a Randy Moss Vikings jersey.

The second part of this rule, being able to wear the jersey of a hall-of-fame player goes without saying, it works, it’s awesome, however, the final part can become somewhat confusing, much like the trade rule. Thinking that a non-hall-of-fame player was an asset to a team can become a battle of opinions and that is where this rule does become somewhat gray and it is up to the risk of the jersey wearer. An example of this risk is wearing an Antwan Randel El Steelers jersey versus wearing a Joey Porter jersey. They were both part of the Super Bowl XL winning team, yet I’m sure people have their opinions about who was a more important part of that season or the win.

2.  You must be under 40 years of age to wear a jersey

In no way is this discriminating against people of age but a 42-year-old wearing a 24-year-old’s jersey just seems a bit off to me. There is an exception to this rule: if you’re over the age of 40, you are allowed to wear a past players jersey.

3. Timing is everything.

– Only wear a jersey during the off-season on relevant days

Why wear a jersey for no reason on a random Wednesday in March? You’ll look stupid. Relevant dates include the NFL draft, start of camp, etc. These days do not include a Super Bowl that your team is not a part of.

- Only wear a jersey on Saturday if you’re not in hometown

If you have travel to another city to watch your team play, you’re allowed to wear your team jersey that NIGHT if you’re going out, however, a team polo would be preferable.

- Never wear jersey on Monday following a win

Why not just wear the jersey on Sunday? By wearing a jersey on a Monday following a victory you’re saying, “I didn’t have enough faith or love for my team to wear this while they played yesterday so I’ll wear it now since they won. I love my team!” Also, people might think you wore it on Sunday.  This is not a preferable way to get girls, but if you’re wearing a jersey on a Monday, you’re probably not going to anyways.

4.  Personalized jerseys need meaning

I think personalized football jerseys are stupid but I will give them the benefit of the doubt in this case if the jerseys meet one of two criteria. 1. The name and number on the jersey is not your last name and number one, the name and number have some significance to you or your life 2. It was a gift

5.  Know your player

Please, please do not wear a player’s jersey that you don’t know anything about. If you are going to wear a jersey, you need to know where that player went to college, possible nicknames, how that player has been in the media, etc.

6.  Don’t wash during season unless stained

Why would you wash a shirt that is baggy and you wear over another shirt most of the time. You will wash all luck and memories off of it. It is not advisable.

7.  Don’t buy alternate jerseys

This means you do not buy an all yellow Packers jersey or an all orange Bears jersey. If they don’t wear it regularly you will looks like a fool in your dumb never worn jersey. This includes Pro Bowl jerseys.

8.  Be original

I know it’s hard, most teams only print about 10 different player’s jerseys and your favorite player is Brian Urlacher along with half of the Bears fans. Find a player that few people will have, looks for a player’s college jersey or get the away color. Make this jersey your own, be your own fan.

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