ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit was clearly not a fan of the pants that Oklahoma kicker Tate Sandell wore in the No. 18 Sooners’ 33-27 win over No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday night.
Sandell hit four field goals — three of them were over 50 yards — in the victory. And as he lined up for his second kick of the night, Herbstreit made fun of the length of his pants after play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler said that Sandell had his “short shorts on.”
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“Bill, that should be a penalty, just dressing like that,” Herbstreit said to rules analyst and former official Bill Lemonnier. “That should be a penalty. What the hell is it? Wearing shorts out there?”
As Sandell made the 51-yard field goal for a 13-10 second-quarter lead, Fowler said that he had “short shorts” but wasn’t “short on distance.
“Got his daisy dukes on and puts it right down the middle again,” Herbstreit said as a replay of the kick was shown.
You can watch the full exchange below.
To be clear, Sandell’s pants are a violation of the NCAA’s uniform code. Per the rule book, players’ “pants and knee pads must cover the knees.”
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That’s a pretty cut and dry rule, right? But even though Sandell’s pants might be an egregious violation, he’s far from the only player in college football who wears pants that don’t cover the knee.
You don’t have to look very hard to find players who are wearing pants that end above their knees in any football game you watch. Just look at how many Oklahoma players on the kickoff team are also wearing pants that don’t cover their knees.
Tate Sandell isn’t the only Oklahoma player with pants that end above his knees. (via ESPN)
Officials are clearly not enforcing the rule. And Sandell is far from the only violator, even if Herbstreit and Fowler want to make an example out of him. If short pants are such an issue in college football, the energy towards stopping players from wearing them should be directed at the NCAA’s football rules committee and officials calling the games. Not the players.
