The Chronicle

Issue date: 10/29/08 Section: Football
Last update: 10/29/08 at 6:50 AM EST

Media Credit: Chronicle file photos Football players, including the Blue Devils, have taken to wearing sweatbands as fashion statments.

Media Credit: Max Masnick

Media Credit: Zachary Tracer

Media Credit: Ian Soileau Even though sweatbands on a long sleeve don't absorb sweat, the Blue Devils still wear them for style.

Uniforms don't necessarily imply uniformity.

Just look at the Blue Devils on game day. From wide receiver Eron Riley to Duke's stable of running backs, wearing a sweatband above the elbow has emerged as a popular fashion statement. The trend, rampant in the NCAA and NFL, has been flourishing for years.

"You want to look pretty and everything," Riley said. "It's something I did when I first got here. I saw the other guys doing it, and I just copied and just continued doing it from then on."

Riley is one of many Duke players who can be seen sporting the sweatbands. The rookie was influenced by some of Duke's best players at the time, including standout cornerback John Talley and wide receiver Jomar Wright, who graduated in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

Now, most of the Blue Devils' skill players have emulated Riley, even though functionality is not on the senior's mind.

"We do it just 'cause," he said.

The sweatbands, which can be seen anywhere from the crook of the elbow to the bicep, do little to clean up sweat. Riley said he wears the sweatbands on his legs and will even put them on over long-sleeve shirts, proving that, sometimes, football takes a backseat to fashion.

"It depends on what color I wear," Riley said. "If I wear blue sleeves, I wear the white [sweatbands]. If I wear white sleeves, I probably won't."

Riley said the sweatbands only serve a sartorial purpose. But his teammate said that the trend is characteristic of a larger fashion ethic in football: excess.

"When guys get the chance to put on as much gear as possible, they do," sophomore punter Kevin Jones said. "My arms aren't big enough."

Of course, not everyone is as chic as Riley.

His quarterback, Thaddeus Lewis, said he doesn't subscribe to a theory of excess, even though he has worn thin sweatbands around his elbow at times this season.

"Some people have rituals. Some people feel like it might stop the sweat," Lewis said. "I just wear sleeves if it's cold. I'd just rather go out there and play. [At] this level, it's about being as light as possible."

But that doesn't mean he's never been caught playing the football fashionista.

Lewis admitted to wearing some sweatbands during his days at Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School in Florida.

"If you caught me playing little league or high school football, there'd be some fashion," he said. "I had, like, four wristbands at Homecoming [in high school]."

But the trend can only be seen on the field. Riley occasionally wears the sweatbands during practices, but it is a tradition he normally saves for games. And there are no lucky sweatbands-Riley simply dons whatever he can find.

And even though the gridiron might double as Bryant Park yet, the trend is becoming more and more prevalent.

Even the nay-sayers are considering jumping on the bandwagon.

"It makes me want to do it now," Jones said.

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