Jim McMahon - Playing Style

Playing Style

Throughout his career, McMahon was known for both on- and off-field antics. Most famously, his wearing of a headband while on the sidelines once led to him being fined by then NFL commissioner, Pete Rozelle, as it had an unauthorized corporate logo on it. The next week his headband simply said "Rozelle". Reportedly before Super Bowl XX hundreds of fans mailed McMahon headbands in hopes he would wear them during the game. Pete Rozelle gave him a stern warning not to wear anything "unacceptable". In response McMahon decided to help bring attention to Juvenile Diabetes by wearing a headband simply stating "JDF Cure", before switching to one stating "POW-MIA", and finally one with the word "Pluto", the nickname of a friend of his stricken with a brain tumor.

He also is known for his trademark sunglasses, which he wears for medical reasons. At age six, while trying to untie a knot in a toy gun holster with a fork, he accidentally severed the retina in his right eye when the fork slipped. While his vision was saved, the accident left that eye extremely sensitive to light. On the field he was among the first to wear a helmet fitted with a tinted plastic visor covering the eyes, leading to nicknames like "Darth Vader" and "Black Sunshine."

McMahon occasionally would play wearing gloves, and urged New York Giants quarterback David Carr to also wear gloves.

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