Football pads are an important piece of football equipment used in a variety of contact sports including lacrosse, gridiron football, and ice hockey. Many modern shoulder pads now come with a rigid, shock absorbent foam mid-part, a hard plastic exterior shell, and an inside lining that decrease some of the pressure on the shoulder muscles. Although padding is not the only difference between football pads today, it has become one of the most important. The difference between old style football pads and new style football pads is the material they are made from, and how the padding fits onto the shoulder.
In the early years of football equipment, football pads were made out of a thick wool cloth or a similar substance. Wool proved to be too uncomfortable for most players, so the popularity of fiberglass as an alternative soon died down. Today, players still prefer a high quality football pad made of fiberglass or other synthetic material because it gives the muscles and shoulder the support and comfort they need. With advances in materials used to make football pads, such as neoprene, newer versions of football pads have started to resemble the uniforms of various football teams.
There are many styles of football pads available to today’s football players. During games, players will wear different kinds of pads depending on the position they play at. In the past, the pads used by offensive and defensive players on either side of the field were different because of where the ball was placed. Today, football players wear pads on each side of the field according to which team they are on. These football equipment differences may seem minimal, but they can drastically affect game play.