Samsons of the Gridiron
Radbam November 18th, 2009
Chris Rock’s has a new documentary film about the role of hair in African-American community, Good Hair. In an interview with Elvis Mitchell on his show The Treatment. Click here to listen to Chris Rock’s view of men’s hair.
What’s with the hair? I know I’ve been less focused on football over the years, reconnecting this season with past passion, but the “New Hirsute” seems a sacrifice of strategy to style. Take a look at Larry Johnson’s infamous tackle of Steeler safety Troy Polamalu. Any questions?
It’s also obvious why, of the 164 players (10% of the NFL roster) counted amongst the rapunzeled, maned and dreadlocked, most play defense, offering few opportunities for a follicular takedown. But despite the fusion of fashion and football borne of Broadway Joe’s centerfolds, this concession of practicality to primping seems to have crossed a hairline.
Polamalu’s helmeted flow is an understandable ethnic tribute to his Samoan heritage. And Titan’s safety Lamont Johnson’s dread-therapy to promote patience is similarly commendable. But the majority must be succumbing to something else, something beyond mere trend, to offer such an easy tackling target.
Expressions of faith in sports have grown precipitously, even amongst the already sanctified precincts of the midway. Football has often been employed as metaphoric inspiration and microcosm for many broader concerns, from muscular foreign policy to apocalyptic battles between the forces of light and darkness. There is an increase in post-play genuflecting in place of the more typical spins, flips and Jaggeresque cock-walking. And from the expanse of the Meadowlands to the modest chalked pastures of rural high schools, concern for injured players has almost universally provoked entire teams to take a prayerful knee .
With this in mind, I wonder if these hefty hippies are inspired by the biblical Samson. Certainly the myth that Samson’s power resided in his hair resonates with players looking for an edge that can’t be drug-tested. The pedigree of holy hair emerges from the biblical Nazirite, a person who takes on a temporary vow to abstain from wine, proximity to dead bodies and the clean cut Mad Men look. In the ancient Near East, the grown and shorn was potent offering to the deity. And whole armies would vow off barbering until achieving victory, a quirky practice akin to many bizarre compulsions of professional athletes.
I think it has something to do with untrimmed hair as a celebration of our natural state, a shout out to the divine or the transcendent that supersedes enslavement to fashion or social norms. Thus, a cornucopia of keratin testifies to a faith in God-given skills, strength and will that belies the commodification of sports as mere statistics, forecasts and endorsements. The hu-mane restores the human to the game.
Let’s hope the Deliliahs of the Commissioner’s office ignore calls to cut these locks of love, whether they are statements of fashion or testimony to faith. And if the rules prohibit a takedown by jersey or shoulderpad, the bushy, wavy and dread-locked should also be off limits. That, or the 164 players might look into an industrial strength conditioner.
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I think you have forgotten about one important motivation for the hairstyles. I don’t think they are fashion statements, I don’t think they are inspired by biblical reasons, I don’t think they a celebration of our natural states. If you look at other professional sports the hair thing is almost non-existant, with the notable exception of MANNY. In football the players where helmets and most players faces are not easily recognizable. I think the hair and the celebrations after plays are individual players attempts to get noticed, gain popularity and to get endorsement $$$$. Follow the money and you will always get to the true motivation for most people.
Cynical, but most likely correct.