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You might have noticed NFL coaches seemingly wearing a uniform this week. While they don brown-colored hoodies, they retain the team’s logo in front. It isn’t just for fashion because those outfits are for a worthy cause.
Every year, each NFL team designates a home game as their Salute to Service matchup. Coaches wear military-inspired hoodies in that game to pay tribute to the men in uniform. The league, through its apparel partners, also sells these uniforms to raise funds for American troops.
Millions of dollars raised by brown uniforms worn by NFL coaches
The National Football League started this initiative in 2011 to give back to those who sacrificed their lives to protect the country. Since then, they have raised over $65 million for the Wounded Warrior Project and United Service Organizations of the hoodies that NFL coaches wore.
WWP is a non-profit organization that helps service veterans who incurred physical or mental injuries during military service. Meanwhile, USO provides activities and entertainment for the American military. The NFL also partnered with the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which provides urgent needs of service members.
The league also supports The Pat Tillman Foundation, which has provided scholarships to children of active-service members. Tillman played for the Arizona Cardinals from 1998 to 2001 before enlisting in the military. He passed away in battle in April 2004 in Afghanistan.
The NFL donates all the proceeds from these unique hoodies to these organizations.
Fanatics, the NFL’s apparel partner, released their 2023 Salute to Service collection last September. Nike released their Salute to Service hoodies last September, while New Era produced caps with camouflage patterns. They also have shirts of retired players like Tom Brady, Roger Staubach, and Emmitt Smith.
Not all NFL coaches wear Salute to Service hoodies
But while the annual Salute to Service month is for a noble cause, some NFL coaches do not follow the memo of wearing brown-colored hoodies. New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick didn’t wear one during their Week 9 game against the Washington Commanders.
New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh also wore the usual Jets black hoodies during their Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Apparently, there’s an NFL Coaches Association that prescribes its members to follow the Salute to Service tradition.
Belichick isn’t a member of that group. Instead, he wore a short-sleeved blue shirt. However, according to MassLive.com’s Matt Vautour, he and other Patriots coaches wore helmet stickers to honor Gold Star families, keeping their ties with the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. T.A.P.S. assists the families of fallen heroes.
