Plenty of NFL players are griping about the looming requirement that they wear leg pads in 2013. The reigning league MVP doesn’t want to hear that leg pads reduce player speed.
“I’ll call BS on that,” Peterson told Mike Garafolo of FOXSports.com. “It’s like, ‘You’re a National Football League player. If a pad that doesn’t weigh but a couple of ounces slows you down, you don’t need to be playing in this league.’ Like, come on now. Seriously.”
So what’s the real reason for the resistance?
“Guys like to be pretty, not wear the thigh pads and knee pads, but it protects you,” Peterson said. “There have been plenty of times I got hit in my knee and when I had my pants pulled up too high and that pad wasn’t there to protect it. It didn’t feel good. So I make sure I keep my pads pulled down and covering my knee just to be able to protect my body.”
So Peterson has no issue with the mandate, and he believes no one else should either.
Meanwhile, Peterson recently had no issue with a request that he attach a camera to his helmet. The final product is worth a look.