Earlier this month, the must-ask question for current and former NFL players centered on whether they’d let their children play football. Now, the question is whether current NFL players welcome the proposed rule requiring players to wear thigh and knee pads.
Most players don’t. Broncos cornerback Tracy Porter does.
“I’m a believer in it,” Porter said Tuesday, via comments distributed by the team. “I’ve been wearing them since my rookie year.”
He recognizes that most defensive backs don’t want to wear leg pads. "[T]hey aren’t too worried about getting hit in the thigh or knee. . . . A lot of guys are frowning upon it because they like to not wear thigh and knee pads, but much like wearing shoulder pads and a helmet, it’s a rule of the league and you have to do it.”
Porter doesn’t buy the notion that wearing leg pads affects game play. “Some guys are superstitious to say that wearing the thigh and knee pads slows them down, but for the most part, I think it’s a myth,” Porter said. “I still feel pretty fast when I’m out there with thigh and knee pads.”
Consider Porter to be among the few who have no problem with leg pads. And expect to hear from more and more players on the topic, until perhaps the line of questioning merges with the most recent hot topic into whether players will force their kids who play football to wear leg pads.