From the NYP.
ATLANTA — N.F.L. owners made thigh and knee pads mandatory for the 2013 season, although the players union could raise an objection in another indication of the fractured relationship between the two sides.
The league said it was “common sense” that the pads would make players safer from thigh contusions and knee bruises. Commissioner Roger Goodell said he was recently told by a Nike executive that N.B.A. players wear more padding below the waist than N.F.L. players.
“Some of us felt we were remiss that we took it out of the rule book — high school and college makes it mandatory — and in our mind that is how it should be and will be in 2013,” said the Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, the chairman of the competition committee.
The league made clear it believes it could apply the rule unilaterally as long as it gives the union the opportunity to review it. The league has discussed the addition of padding for years with union leadership and said it would talk to them again.
Players, particularly those at speed positions like receiver and cornerback, have long resisted wearing additional padding because they fear it will slow them down. But league officials said they want N.F.L. players to set the example for younger players, who already are required to wear knee and thigh pads. The one-year wait for the rule to be enacted is to allow equipment makers and players to work on refining equipment. The latest generation of equipment uses high-tech material and has pads built in to “girdles.”
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