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Bucs receivers and their glove story

 
Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cameron Brate (84) during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice at One Buc Place in Tampa, on Tuesday, June 14, 2016. OCTAVIO JONES   |   Times
Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cameron Brate (84) during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice at One Buc Place in Tampa, on Tuesday, June 14, 2016. OCTAVIO JONES | Times
Published Sept. 1, 2017

To our readers: Mike Evans' 2016 NFL Catch of the Year and the big Bucs' offseason catches — DeSean Jackson, O.J. Howard and Chris Godwin — inspired us to mark the start of the 2017 season with a series of stories celebrating "The Catch." We hope you enjoy them.

TAMPA -- The phrase "fits like a glove" needs to be true on the football field, and when Bucs players need a pair of gloves, they go to Brad Berlin.

Tthe team's equipment manager is responsible for keeping track of the intricate glove preferences of every player, which can change even during a game.

There are sizes, of course — no Bucs wear a small, but it goes clear up from medium to 4XL, which 6-foot-9 tackle Demar Dotson wears. There are receiver gloves, gloves that have receiver-glove palms but more padding on the top of the fingers and back of the hand, and lineman gloves, with the most padding.

"Football is played with the hands," he said. "The hands are one of the most important parts of the game, so the hands have to be protected. You're trying to find an advantage to help you every time the ball is thrown to someone. You don't want the hand the reason a play didn't go right. ... Gloves are an important part of the game."

PALM SUNDAYS

Within the gloves, there are three kinds of palms — 90 percent are "magnigrip" palms, the descendants of the old "Stickum" version in the 1970s.

"When they first came out, they were like the glue on the mousetrap," said Berlin, who joined the Bucs last year after two years at Michigan after 13 in the NFL with Washington. "The rules evolved and coaches complained, and now it's a standard. It's tacky, but it's just a silicone material. When the ball hits the glove, all motion, rotation, anything, it just stops, dead in its tracks."

There's a leather palm, which linemen who are primarily blocking often prefer. Should it rain, there are "hydragrip" gloves, which look the same but are a must in a monsoon, as Tampa can produce.

"It's pretty amazing," Berlin said. "You can be in a downpour, and there's no slippage of the ball when it hits this thing. They've perfected it to withstand moisture and rain."

Skill-position players who catch or carry the ball will nearly always wear gloves, but some linemen -- including five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy -- still don't.

THEY DON'T LAST LONG

It's generous when a player throws his gloves to a fan after the game, but they get a new pair before every game. In training camp, with sweat from inside and moisture from outside, players change gloves frequently.

"Our climate is not really conducive to the longevity of the glove," says Berlin, fresh off making an order for another 1,200 pairs. "There are guys who go through a pair of gloves every day. There's guys that try to get a couple of days out of one, and some of the younger guys that don't know any better and try to get a week out of them."

You'll see performance gloves retail for $30-40 in sporting goods store, but the Bucs' costs range from $16 to $22 depending on the type.

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"For a $20 piece of equipment, it doesn't sound like much, but it plays a pretty vital role," Berlin said.

BRAND LOYALTY

Some Bucs players have glove endorsements — from Nike, adidas and Under Armour —- so those are more limited. A player might get a box of 12 to last a month, so they can still toss a pair after each game, but there's not an unlimited number.

Some players wear their game gloves in the practices that follow, but they always get a fresh pair on gamedays. Some players can sweat through a pair in pregame warmups and will get another new pair before kickoff — Mike Evans and Cameron Brate regularly do that, Berlin said. They also can get new gloves at halftime — there's a full inventory of sizes and kinds on the sidelines if they really need them.

"The computer makes it easy," Berlin said. "We print a spreadsheet out for every game, and it takes about 20 minutes to pull them. We've got them organized by size and color and make and model. One guy calls them off and another guy pulls them. You throw a (jersey) number on them with a Sharpie and throw them in a bag and they're ready for the game."

Contact Greg Auman at gauman@tampabay.com and (813) 310-2690. Follow @gregauman.