Though shoulder pads remain a vital part of a football player's equipment, another piece of protection has fallen into total disuse. A moment of silence, please, for the protective cup, long ago a staple of gridiron armor.
"In the seven years I've been here, I've never had a request,'' 49ers equipment manager Steve Urbaniak said.
Urbaniak's predecessor, Bronco Hinek, said he, too, was not asked by a player for a protective cup, an item shaped like a codpiece that slips into the pocket of a jockstrap.
Thus, the most sensitive part of a player's anatomy is left unprotected in this most violent of sports.
"I think a lot of it has to do with comfort,'' Urbaniak said. "The freedom of movement you need is too (important) for guys.''
Several 49ers queried said they had not worn cups since their Pop Warner days.
"I've never worn one,'' quarterback Alex Smith said. "Not many people do. It's funny.''
What about the risk of getting hit in that unprotected area?
"There could be, and has been, in practice,'' Smith said. "I've never had it happen in a game.''
Said fullback Chris Hetherington: "In 11 years in the league, I've only been hit once there, knock on wood.''
Guard Justin Smiley said he has not worn a cup in nearly two decades.
"In Pee Wee football, six or seven, I wore it for like a year or two,'' he said. "But then I realized it was a thing for little kids. Once you get to seven or eight, you realize hardly anyone wore them.''
Smiley said he has experienced the consequences of not wearing a cup.
"I've had it a number of times,'' he said. "You beat a guy good, you pancake him and his knee catches you. It's excruciating, but you don't have much time to sit there and fret about it.''
Retired 49ers offensive lineman Guy McIntyre, who played from 1984 through 1993, is among the no-cup crowd. "I never wore a hard cup,'' he said. "It's uncomfortable.''
"I wore it in high school, but since high school, I haven't worn one,'' Hetherington said. "That's funny. I saw the movie 'Gridiron Gang' the other day. They were distributing equipment and they were laughing at the protective cup. Then one guy gets hit there and they all ran back in and got them.''
In his otherwise well-stocked equipment room, Urbaniak said he does not even carry protective cups. Should a player put in a request for one, Urbaniak said, "I'd just go to the local sporting-goods store and pick it up.''
actually caught it on SportsCenter this morning.
