Sniffing Smelling Salts on the Sidelines

You’ve likely seen you’re favorite player seemingly snorting a small packet on the sidelines – smelling salts. These salts can call up the memory of bath salts, cannibalism, or well, table salt. Keep reading to learn about NFL player’s dirty little sideline habit.

What are smelling salts?

These stinky salts date back to the Roman Times and are probably best known for their use in Victorian times for reviving fainted women. The recipe has remained the same – ammonia salts (ammonia bicarbonate and ammonia carbonate) and water.

Chargers wideout Gary "The Ghost" Garrison hits the smelling salts — once a common sight on NFL sidelines. pic.twitter.com/72doLQ7b1X

— Kevin Gallagher (@KevG163) September 7, 2020

The ammonia gas that is released stinks amazingly bad and the gas causes the person to breathe in faster. This has a stimulating effect.

What’s the stink about the salts?

Although the suspicious salts are actually safe for the most part, bringing the packet too close to your nose can burn it on the inside and can cause a reflex strong enough to make a present spinal condition worse.

Overall, concerns are over what the salts are masking. Terry Bradshaw has said publicly that he would smell the stink on the sidelines after he got his “bell rung” so he could get back on the field and keep playing.

A primary use was (is) to hide the dizziness and mental fog associated with concussions. Consequently, boxing competitions have banned the salts. Obviously, in the past, playing concussed was commonplace, but now, we hope that most players will get evaluated for a concussion and not sniff the good stuff.

Besides, who needs the aroma of cat pee in their nostrils when they’re trying to compete? You could always don the oxygen mask we see players huffing on lately. Also, is that safe? It’s probably fine, and that’s usually good enough for the NFL.

Want to get jiggy with the Super Bowl Shufflin’ Crew? Look at my article on the Super Bowl Shuffle here.