# NFL players -- waist packs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-players-waist-packs/217842 "2003-12-09T03:09:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-players-waist-packs/217842/1 "2003-12-09T03:09:22Z")
I don’t usually watch sports, but I happened to catch a few minutes of tonight’s Rams/Browns game. I noticed that a few of the players were wearing waist packs. Why? And why only a few of them? ---
**Author:** ![cadolphin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@cadolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cadolphin)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-players-waist-packs/217842/2 "2003-12-09T03:49:10Z")
They keep their hands warm. Kathy ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-players-waist-packs/217842/3 "2003-12-09T04:11:25Z")
Don’t lie Kathy. They keep their lipstick in there for touch-ups during the commercial breaks. Ok, Kathy’s right. They’re hand warmers. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-players-waist-packs/217842/4 "2003-12-09T13:55:52Z")
Traditionally, such a device has been called a _muff._ The NFL is a terribly macho bunch, though, so they probably have a different name for it. ---
**Author:** ![SeekingTruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@SeekingTruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeekingTruth)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-players-waist-packs/217842/5 "2003-12-09T14:04:12Z")
Nope, still called a muff. It’s been carried over to “muffed” describing a kick returner that fumbles the handling. “he muffed the punt/kick-off” ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-players-waist-packs/217842/6 "2003-12-09T15:30:46Z")
Keep hands warm. Why on some players? Well, those that hanlde the ball are most likely to use them. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-players-waist-packs/217842/7 "2003-12-09T19:09:36Z")
Are there rules against grabbing the guy’s muff to make a tackle? Er, allow me to rephrase that. Can you grab the hand warmer to make a tackle? I heard Sunday that grabbing a players dreadlocks to make a tackle, but wondered about the hand warmers. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-players-waist-packs/217842/8 "2003-12-09T20:03:12Z")
You can grab anything but the facemask. The hand warmer thingee is fair game. It’s not going to hurt the guy most likely. It’s much more likely that it will just fall off if you try to grab it.