If you’ve ever wondered why athletes wear eye black under their eyes, it’s because the dark colour helps to prevent some of the light from reaching them.
Some players wear eye black to improve their vision in the sun, while others hope it will block out the bright stadium lights during games.
In addition to towels worn in their waistbands, football players often wear fanny packs with hand warmers.
Eye Black Improves Vision
Basically, eye black prevents part of the light from reaching your eyes. When the light reaches your face, a portion of it reflects off your skin.
It is believed that some of this reflected light travels upwards into your eyes, making it harder for you to see. By using eye black, players hope that the light is absorbed by the eye black and will no longer reflect into their eyes.
Since the early 2000’s, several studies have been conducted to determine how effective eye black is.
Eye black did indeed reduce glare, but more importantly, it enabled players to distinguish light from dark more effectively.
By using eye black, players will be able to find the ball in the air more easily. With a better ability to distinguish light from dark, receivers should be able to track the ball at a faster rate.
Although eye black can improve your ability to see lighinom the dark, no studies have proven that it improves your performance on the football field.
Paying Respects
A football player may wear eye black due to personal traditions. Tyler Bass, the kicker for the Buffalo Bills, wears eye black only under his eyes.
For his final college football game, Bass decided to wear only a single black eye.
In honor of his grandmother, Bass played his final college football game for breast cancer awareness.
Despite the many questions regarding the single-eye black look, Bass has decided to stick with it.
Play Good, Look Good
The most common reason football players wear eye black is to look good and feel good.
High school football teams don’t wear eye black for glare if you look at them before a game.
Football players often use eye black to express themselves. Football is a sport where it can be hard to customize your look, but using eye black is a legal way to do so.
It is important for a football player to have a look that makes him feel good. Being confident in how he appears on the field can have a great impact on his performance.
In conclusion
This guide explains why football players wear eye black.
Some players wear eye black simply for how it looks, while others wear it to block out light and improve their vision.
We have plenty of other football articles you may find interesting if you enjoyed this guide.
Find out what a trap play is or how to prepare for football tryouts in our guide.