For the eighth straight October, the National Football League has gone pink. Players wear pink gloves, cleats, hats and towels. Referees blow pink whistles. The league drops a pink ribbon beneath its shield on game-used footballs. All these displays are part of the league’s partnership with the American Cancer Society to raise money and consciousness during breast cancer awareness month.
On many high school athletic fields, players also are going pink, incorporating the colored gear into uniforms and sideline gear and apparel. Retailers have responded by pushing the pink gear front and center on store floor space and websites.
But don’t judge the purchase by its color: Aside from specifically licensed merchandise bearing the NFL pink ribbon shield logo, pink gear sales usually do not benefit any breast cancer-affiliated causes. That means much of what is worn at the youth level is a fashion statement more than a philanthropic effort – whether athletes and their parents know it or not.
Student-athletes and their families make most of these pink purchases on their own, coaches and parents said, usually in anticipation of a designated “pink-out” game. It’s an informal but enthusiastic effort, they said, because student-athletes think they are being charitable. Players will purchase a pink towel or athletic tape ahead of a game, and if they cannot, teammates will help them improvise to present a unified look.
“At the high school level, I don’t think there’s an awareness of it,” said Bill Park, whose son plays football at a school in Fairfax County, Va.. “It’s certainly not at the forefront of what they talk about.”
While many apparel companies and retailers make donations that benefit cancer-fighting and awareness groups, such contributions are not tied directly to sales of the pink merchandise, a surprise to some athletes.
Running back Joshua Breece of Stone Bridge High School wears a pink Nike camouflage sleeve and pink socks during October football games. His Ashburn, Virginia, school held an in-school fundraiser for breast cancer research organizations the final week of September, and he and his teammates figured some of their purchases for their “pink out” game against West Springfield in West Springfield, Va., would go to a good cause.
“I’m glad they do give some money,” Breece said of manufacturers, “but I really thought it was a percentage that goes to it. That’s what I was led to believe from other people.”
The NFL began its “Crucial Catch” program in October 2009 in partnership with the American Cancer Society. Used pink equipment is auctioned off after games, and the proceeds are donated.