Place Kicking Shoes Question

dolphinboy · January 13, 2014, 1:26am

This is a sports related question, so I assume it goes here…

I just noticed that the San Diego Chargers kicker is wearing two different colored football shoes. A black football shoe on his right (kicking) foot, and a white football shoe on his left foot.

I assume he wears different colored shoes because his ‘kicking shoe’ is a special shoe designed just for place kickers. Assuming that’s correct, why can’t he get his kicking shoe in the same color as his non-kicking shoe? What am I missing here? Or is this some kind of fashion statement?

kenobi_65 · January 13, 2014, 4:05pm

(Former kicker in high school here)

Kickers generally wear a different style of shoe on their kicking foot. The plant foot needs good traction, but the kicking foot needs a good surface at the top of the shoe for contacting the ball. Why these are often different colors, I have no idea. I believe that they’re usually wearing a football cleat on the plant foot, and a soccer shoe on the kicking foot.

Kickers also were a different size shoe on their kicking foot (this seems to be an idea that took hold after I stopped kicking). Most kickers will wear a shoe that’s at least one size smaller, if not two sizes smaller, on their kicking foot. I imagine that this is danged uncomfortable, but the idea is to compress the foot, which is supposed to provide a more solid surface for contacting the ball.

Then again, it might all be superstition, since kickers tend to be a bit on the flaky side. (I remember punters who would lace their kicking shoes all in one direction, in the theory that this would let them impart a “rifling” action to the ball. :rolleyes: )

Quercus · January 13, 2014, 4:12pm

I would bet that the answer is “Why should he?”. Perhaps with some effort he could go find appropriate shoes in more-or-less matching colors, by why put forth the effort if nobody is making him?

kenobi_65 · January 13, 2014, 4:23pm

Generally speaking, the NFL considers the color of the shoes to be part of the player’s uniform, and they do make players conform. A team will designate the color for their shoes as part of their uniform, and all of their players need to wear shoes of that same color, or face a fine (yes, the NFL is extremely rigid, to the point of ridiculousness, on their uniform code).

My guess would be that the league has given kickers an exemption to this rule, but only for the shoes on their kicking feet.

kenobi_65 · January 13, 2014, 5:15pm

Here, in all its glorious detail, is the bit out of the NFL rulebook on shoes. I’ve bolded the section which contains separate rules for kickers and punters:

(g) Shoes must be of standard football design, including “sneaker” type shoes such as basketball shoes, cross-training shoes, etc. League-approved tri-colored shoes are permitted with black, white, and one team color. Each team must select a dominant color for its shoes, either black or white (with shoelace color conforming to the dominant color of the tongue area of the manufacturer’s shoe). The selection of dominant color must be reported by each team to the League office no later than July 1 each year. Each player may select among shoe styles previously approved by the League office. All players on the same team must wear shoes with the same dominant color. Approved shoe styles will contain one team color which must be the same for all players on a given team. A player may wear an unapproved standard football shoe style as long as the player tapes over the entire shoe to conform to his team’s selected dominant color. Logos, names, or other commercial identification on shoes are not permitted to be visible unless advance approval is granted by the League office (see Article 7). Size and location of logos and names on shoes must be approved by the League office. When a shoe logo or a name approved by the League office is covered with an appropriate use of tape (see Article 4(f)), players will be allowed to cut out the tape covering the original logo or name, provided the cut is clean and is the exact size of the logo or name. The logo or name of the shoe manufacturer must not be reapplied to the exterior of taped shoes unless advance approval is granted by the League office. Kicking shoes must not be modified (including using a shoelace wrapped around toe and/or bottom of the shoe), and any shoe that is worn by a player with an artificial limb* on his kicking leg must have a kicking surface that conforms to that of a normal kicking shoe. Punters and placekickers may omit the shoe from the kicking foot in preparation for and during kicking plays***. Punters and placekickers may wear any combination of tri-colored shoes provided that the colors are consistent with those selected by the team and with the policy listed above**.

The last sentence shows that a kicker (or punter) can wear a shoe that’s white, black, or the “team color”, and “any combination” suggests that the shoes do not need to match in color.

- I’d guess that this is an old rule, dating to the days of “toe-style” kickers, and that, at some point, somebody decided to use an extra shoelace to make sure they kept their kicking foot at a 90-degree angle.

** - Undoubtedly a rule that was put in due to Tom Dempsey (who was missing most of his kicking foot, though Dempsey did not wear a prosthesis when he kicked).

*** - Undoubtedly put in to address barefoot kickers (such as Tony Franklin) and kickers who only wore socks (such as Chuck Ramsey).

dolphinboy · January 14, 2014, 3:14am

Good answers. Thanks!