You will never see a single bar facemask in the NFL again. The last player to wear the uni-bar was punter Scott Player. Unfortunately, he was cut and was the only player remaining “grandfathered” with the ability to wear the single bar helmet. RIP, uni-bar.
Via ESPN:
The NFL went as far as it could to replicate history.
The Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans were in their original duds in Sunday night’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Game.
Clubs are wearing throwback uniforms this year in selected Legacy Games to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the American Football League, with Canton’s preseason opener the first exhibition.
A lone red Buffalo stood proudly on the Bills’ helmets. The Titans were dressed like their ancestors, the Houston Oilers, complete with derricks. Referees were on patrol in orange-striped jerseys.
No matter how hard the NFL tries to recapture the olden days, one glaring omission makes it impossible:
The single-bar facemask is gone and not coming back.
Anybody who remembers Alcoa’s “Fantastic Finishes” should feel a little older.
The single-bar facemask is extinct because a guy whose middle name is Darwin couldn’t survive last season.
Scott Darwin Player, the veteran punter, will go down as the last single-barista. He was grandfathered in when the NFL banned the single-bar facemask in 2004, but he couldn’t remain active last year, an NFL spokesman told ESPN.com in an e-mail. The New England Patriots cut him before training camp opened, and the single-bar hasn’t been seen since.
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