TINTED VISORS

Question
WHY CANT YOU WEAR TINTED VISORS.ISN'T THE RULE THE REF HAS TO PUT HIS GAME CARD BEHIND THE VISOR AND IF HE CAN SEE IT YOU CAN WEAR IT

Answer
John


You may ONLY wear a clear non tinted visor/eye shield under NCAA and National Federation rules.

You refer to "THE REF HAS TO PUT HIS GAME CARD BEHIND THE VISOR AND IF HE CAN SEE IT" - this is nt a rule or a technique to enforce or apply the rule.

The reason for the rule that there can be NO Tinting is for safety and to allow personnel to see the pupils of a player without any interference of light to the pupils.  The NCAA & National Federation issued a memo based on the recommendation of the National Athletic Trainers Association to prohibit eye shield that had any tint.  It must be 100% tint/color free to qualify as "clear".

The exact rule addressing visors is :

NCAA FOOTBALL RULE 1-4-5  (SEE 1-4-5-s)

Illegal Equipment
ARTICLE 5. No player wearing illegal equipment shall be permitted to play. Any question as to the legality of a player抯 equipment shall be decided by the umpire. Illegal equipment includes the following:
...
s. Eye shields that are not clear or made from molded or rigid material. Note: No player wearing illegal equipment shall be permitted to play. If illegal equipment is discovered by an official, the team shall be charged a team timeout.  The high school rule has the same elements as the college rule.

Hope this answers your question
Victor Winnek
NCAA Football Official