With the 52nd Superbowl over, are you already missing football? We thought this is the perfect time to discuss NFL hair highlights. Players wear helmets when on the field, so many of them don’t bother with fancy haircuts. However, there are current and ex-NFL players who take pride in their locks. They know that the cameras will eventually catch them in the locker room or out on the town, and they want to make sure that people take notice.
During the “greatest game ever played,” Johnny Unitas rocked the military-esque “high and tight” buzzcut. Over the decades, we’ve seen NFL players with designs shaved into the sides of their head, long flowing dreadlocks, and even neon green mohawks.
Here’s a look at some of the best heads of hair in the NFL
Richard Sherman
Richard is a cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks. He’s famous for sporting long dreadlocks. While his dreads may make him one of the coolest looking guys in the NFL, they come with a risk: dreadlocks stick out the sides and back of football helmets and can become entangled with other players. In 2013, Jaguars defensive end Jason Babin tackled Arizona Cardinals running back Andres Ellington. Babin accidentally wound up with a handful of Ellington’s dreadlocks. Players wear this hairstyle at their own risk as it becomes fair game when making a tackle.
Troy Polamalu
There are some NFL players who wear their hair not to attract attention, but rather for cultural reasons. Retired Pittsburgh Steelers strong safety Troy Polamalu didn’t cut his hair for over a decade. This is because the traditional Samoan culture teaches that not cutting your hair is akin to showing reverence for your ancestors.
Clay Matthews
Clay let his long blond hair grow out to the point where he could be mistaken for the Norse god Thor. Every so often he will change how he wears his luxurious golden locks, whether that be tied back into a ponytail or braided into two “war pigtails” reminiscent of the leader of a Viking raiding party – or a Swedish opera singer.
[Image courtesy of Kyle Engman]
Tom Brady
In the early 2000’s, Tom Brady sported a traditional short preppy hairdo. Over the years it went from short and preppy, to mop top, to what some people would describe as “slightly balding.” While he hasn’t come out and stated it explicitly, some people think that Tom Brady may have had a hair restoration procedure performed at some point.
[Image courtesy of Jeffrey Beall]
Odell Beckham Jr.
Odell has one of the more unique hairdos in the NFL. He started off with what’s known as a “burst fade mohawk” and then dyed the top part a light brown color. The bottom half of his head is shaved tight and short.
After he got tired of the burst fade, he let the top grow out to medium length curls. A few months later those medium length curls became extremely long curls and his trademark long mohawk was born. Lately, Odell has been spotted sporting the same basic style of haircut, but instead of having the top part dyed a light brown, it’s now platinum blonde.
[Image Courtesy of Brook Ward]
NFL Players and Hair Transplants
Just because you’re a star athlete doesn’t mean that genetics won’t get in the way of your hairline. Over the years many NFL stars have found themselves suffering from male pattern baldness to the degree in which they felt it was time to undergo a hair transplant.
While there are quite a few NFL athletes that have undergone hair transplant procedures over the years, for some reason there is still a stigma surrounding the surgery, so not all of them have come out and publically admitted to having the surgery.
Deion Sanders
In September of 2017, NFL legend Deion Sanders uploaded a video to the Internet where he said he had gotten a hair transplant (along with a side of Botox). While Deion didn’t go into specifics, it’s thought that he underwent the same FUE method that Brian Urlacher did. Sanders hairline is much more prominent now than it was just a year ago, so it’s very likely that hairs on the back of his head were transplanted to the front.
Wes Welker
This former New England Patriots Player had his hair transplant done in 2013 and it still looks amazing. Pictures of him on the internet show that he went from a short, thinning hairdo to long, luxurious mop-top. Welker was interviewed and quoted as saying that the hair transplant procedure was the best thing that he has ever done.
Welker underwent the strip method transplant and then supplemented that with Rogaine and Propecia. The end result was a full head of flowing locks that looked like they had shaved 15 years off his age.
Hair Transplants in San Antonio
You don’t need to be a multi-millionaire NFL player to get a hair transplant. The cost of a transplant is reasonable and within reach of many people. Schedule a consultation to learn more about the options available to help slow or stop your thinning hair.
At Limmer Hair Transplant Center, we pioneered hair transplants and have been transforming the lives of both men and women for the past 40 years. Give us a call today at (210) 496-9992 to see how we can not only improve your looks, but give you back the confidence you once had.
