Good Morning POU!! I can only imagine the number of players looking at this dude going “You supposed to use just a little! You went and messed it up for EVERYBODY!” LOL
The Lester Hayes Rule
In 1981 the NFL outlawed the use of Stickum, a glue-like substance players applied liberally to their hands. Well, that’s most players. Hayes put Stickum on his hands, socks, helmet and pretty much everywhere. And it was so excessive the league had no recourse but to ban it.
Hayes was introduced to Stickum, an adhesive substance used by players to improve their grip, in his 1977 rookie season by Hall of Fame wide receiver and fellow teammate Fred Biletnikoff. Instead of just applying a small amount to his hands, though, he began to slather it all over his arms and even his uniform, drawing more and more attention to it. Hayes later described the influence the adhesive had on his career, saying that before being introduced to it in his rookie year, he “couldn’t catch a cold in Antarctica”.
The use of Stickum was banned by the NFL after the 1980 season. In the six seasons that Hayes played following the banning of Stickum, he had 14 total interceptions, compared to the 25 that he had in his first four seasons. However, he was named to the Pro Bowl and selected as a second-team All-Pro four times after 1980. Hayes later stated that alongside lingering thumb injuries, the Stickum ban contributed to a decline in his later career. Fred Biletnikoff and Jerry Rice, both of whom have admitted their usage of Stickum, have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, while Hayes has not been. He was a finalist four times (2001–2004) and a semifinalist six times (2005–2010).