Pants and Knee Pads

[Kevin Durst]

I am a high school official with a college rules question.  More and more I notice college players, especially kickers and receivers, who are practically wearing shorts.  The pants obviously do not cover the knees, so they obviously do not have knee pads which covers the knees.  These pants would obviously be illegal under Federation rules.

What is the college rule, if any, regarding this?

[DallasLJ]

They eliminated knee pads are required equipment in the NCAA.  HS still requires them.

[BankerRef]

In NCAA knee pads are required.  The pad itself must be covered by the pants but the language does not require it to cover the knee.  It is strongly recommended to cover the knee but not required. 

[TXMike]

With any luck maybe we can get teh UIL to do away with the exception next year and just follow the NCAA rule as written

[GAHSUMPIRE]

In NCAA knee pads are required.  The pad itself must be covered by the pants but the language does not require it to cover the knee.  It is strongly recommended to cover the knee but not required.

Banker, I am not criticizing you, but rather the requirement. It doesn't make a lot of sense. What is the point of having a knee pad, if the pad doesn't cover the knee?

I assume there is some legal/liability reasoning behind requiring the pad, but not enforcing where it is worn. On the bright side, it also ends up being one less precinct for the uniform police to patrol.

[BankerRef]

, it also ends up being one less precinct for the uniform police to patrol.

And that is the point of the rule.  Proper placement of the pad and length of the pants is not something the crew needs to worry about.  It is on the school and the coaching staff to ensure proper use of equipment.

[Chiefump]

TXMike, after watching the Calhoun v Terry game, it appears that Houston crews think we have already gone the way of the NCAA rules. 

[alter mann]

Guys, what about the game clock, if we miss some of the required equipment?
Do we stop the clock to send the player out?
And if, will it start again the ready or with the snap?

[JDM]

TXMike, after watching the Calhoun v Terry game, it appears that Houston crews think we have already gone the way of the NCAA rules.

Careful not to stereotype - there certainly are crews that enforce the rule.

[Chiefump]

Point well taken!

[Joe Stack]

it appears that Houston crews think we have already gone the way of the NCAA rules. 

Not that I approve of ignoring rules, but in partial fairness to the crews involved, a) this is getting to be a losing battle on our part; yes, we need to courage to enforce what must be enforced, but if a player AND coach do not care about their own personal safety, why should we? b) its unclear whether or not this actually prevents injuries, much less serious injuries -- and it really doesn't impact another player; and finally, c) especially at the lower levels, kids are outfitted with pants in August that don't fit them in early October because of their growth.

I'm just sick and tired of being the uniform police and fighting a fight where no competitive advantage is gained. If UIL wants them covered, they should put it to the district committees to suspend kids and coaches who don't cover the knees. Problem solved. Instead they make US the bad guys and don't understand the impact we can face from coaches and schools when we do enforce the rules. 

[Chiefump]

Actually the problem is it does effect another player.  The knee pad is not to protect the player wearing it but the player that feels the impact of an uncovered knee.  It is a safety issue and it is unfortunate that the NCAA (Coaches) have chosen not to enforce a safety rule.  I wonder if the crew filed an incident report with the UIL.  As a member of TASO, it is our obligation to enforce the rules on the books and not be concerned that you will be scratched by a coach. If UIL receives enough incident reports maybe they will do something about next year when they require schools to provide jerseys that will adequately cover a players pads.

[TxSkyBolt]

Ive heard heard that argument before but dont think it holds water. Why are not elbows required to be covered?


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[copedaddy]

Take a knee in the chin while the runner is moving full speed. You will feel the difference.

[JasonTX]

Why don't we pad up the helmet.  The helmet legally used, hurts a lot worse than a knee.  Just sayin.

[Joe Stack]

The pad is NOT going to protect or even lessen the impact to another player from an incidental knee strike. Years ago, while playing volleyball, I got hit in the side of the head by a knee of another player when I dove for a ball and he didn't see me. He was wearing pads and I still got a mild concussion. Had he not been wearing them, I would have gotten ... a mild concussion. its all a physics equation: F-MA.

[Legacy Zebra]

You're right, it's a physics equation, but it's not necessarily F=ma. A better thought process would be the impulse, F*t=Delta P (change in momentum). By putting deformable padding on whatever surface you extend the time it takes to stop the momentum, thereby reducing the necessary force.

[Joe Stack]

You can extend f=ma all you want -- I think that works fine for our purposes. After thinking about it, I think the knee pad (in my case) actually worsened the hit because it created a bigger impact area, being tightly attached to the entire knee joint.

[NorCalMike]

We have the same problem even working under the NFHS rules. The kids see all their favorite players having pants and pads that don't cover the knee. So on Friday night even though it is in the Fed rules we have kids trying to get away with it. As the U get to be the uniform police. I can't stand it. It is even worse with the stupid sweat band rule in the Fed book. No sweatbands more than 2 inches from the wrist. So I spend my whole pregame telling kids to take the four sweat bands on their biceps off. No safety issue hear. Then it's the eye black patches with the nike swoosh on it. Again no safety issue here.

Spend more time dealing with these issues during pregame with crap than checking for real problems.