Proposed Hair Rule Does Not Sit Well With New NFLPA President

Mawae Speaks Out Against Proposal Prohibiting Long Hair In NFL

HAIR RAISING ISSUE: Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw said of the proposed rule, "There might be some white linemen with long hair, but they're really going after the players with dreadlocks. It seems like it's almost a racially-motivated deal by guys who don't understand fashion and culture." He added the NFL wants the "brand name of the team and the helmet to be what sells, not any individual name. They don't market players the way the NBA markets players." Denver Post columnist Woody Paige: "We live in a country where people can be individuals and why would the NFL try and take even more individualism away from the players? As it is right now, they have fashion police." ESPN's J.A. Adande: "This makes no sense. What are they going to do next? Force them to laser off their tattoos?" ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 3/26). SPORTING NEWS' Vinnie Iyer wrote if the NFL is "going for uniformity, well, it's something we already have in the uniforms. I have no problems with players tucking in to look their Sunday best. But why mess with the hair? It's just tugging at an issue that doesn't mean much in the big picture. ... There are bigger issues in the NFL than the players' pates" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 3/27). ESPN's Jemele Hill: "This is just image-conscious, micro-management run amuck" ("Jim Rome Is Burning," ESPN, 3/27).

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