In Britain, top footballers are a mess. Their American counterparts, quite simply, still look stunning after three hours. How do they manage it?

	That's why players are also be expected to keep their uniforms neat and commercially correct.	For NFL players, football is a game of preservation. For fans in stadiums and in front of TV sets, it's a game of presentation. No sports league has a stronger marriage with television than the NFL, as evidenced by its new eight-year, $17.6 billion TV contract. No league has a keener interest in showcasing its athletes and sponsors at their eye-pleasing best. That's why while the Packers and Lions are knocked down and bloodied in tonight's game, televised nationally on ESPN, they'll also be expected to keep their uniforms neat and commercially correct. NFL players wear their socks according to league standards. They keep their jerseys tucked in. They keep do-rags from hanging out of their helmets. They display logos only of companies that are NFL licensees. If they don't, it's costly. The NFL has a strict system of inspection and fines, from $5,000 to $100,000, to make sure uniforms are, well, uniform. "The NFL wants to present a professional product on the field for the fans and to protect the business relationships that surround the game," said Chris Widmaier, NFL director of corporate communications. All NFL stadiums have uniform inspectors, and Greg Boyd, a defensive lineman during 1977-84 for the Broncos and four other NFL teams, fills that spot at Mile High Stadium. He's executive director of the Colorado office of Communities in Schools, a nationwide dropout-prevention program, and his friends can get confused about his Sunday job. "They'll say, `So you design the uniforms?' " Boyd said, laughing. "I tell them, `No, I just make sure they wear them the way they were designed.' "A lot of guys will say, `If I wear my socks up or down, how does that affect the way I play?' They have not yet understood this is about show business and the networks and pro lines who have paid to use NFL licensing."
	This is about show business and the networks and pro lines who have paid to use NFL licensing.	Remember the uproar created by Bears quarterback Jim McMahon when during the 1986 season he wore a shoe company headband, unlicensed by the NFL? McMahon was warned not to wear the headband in the Super Bowl by then-commissioner Pete Rozelle and complied by wearing a plain headband on which he wrote "Rozelle." McMahon avoided a fine that today would be $100,000. "The league wants everybody to look presentable because we represent them," Arizona running back Adrian Murrell said. "On the other hand, sometimes it's a little redundant with some of the things they try to enforce: `Hey, Murrell, get those socks up!' Sometimes I get messed up and my shirt comes out and I don't have time all the time to put it back in." High school and college players are also subject to uniform regulations set by the National Federation of State High School Associations and the NCAA. Unlike the NFL, though, game officials are the sole uniform inspectors for high school and college games -- and violators are not fined. In the NFL, regular-season fines for sloppy uniforms start at $5,000. Fines for unlicensed logos start at $10,000 and can reach $100,000 for the Super Bowl. "Nothing against NASCAR, but we don't want decals stuck everywhere," said Ed Reynolds, a former Patriots linebacker who is NFL assistant director of football development and oversees the inspectors. "We don't want a guy sitting on the sidelines with `Joe's Bar and Grill' on his head. "If the Chiefs are playing the Broncos, it's a big game, and if a guy can sneak (an unlicensed logo) just for a few seconds, it's worth a tremendous amount of money to the company he's trying to exhibit."
	"We don't want a guy sitting on the sidelines with `Joe's Bar and Grill' on his head."	Boyd started work at the Broncos-Cowboys game this season by visiting both locker rooms a few hours before kickoff to check with the team equipment managers who serve as his liaisons. Boyd then visited the game officials, who help enforce the uniform policy, and scheduled a meeting with them at the 50-yard line 30 minutes before kickoff. Officials lately have had to watch for players using slippery substances that make them harder to grab. A Broncos offensive lineman was told to change a gooey jersey in last season's playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium. "When I come around, the players get kind of quiet," Boyd said. "They wonder, `What is he looking at now?' " Boyd is looking at such items as shoes, socks, jerseys, pants, gloves, helmets, towels, headbands and wristbands. He stands on the sideline during warm-ups, recording violations in a notebook. He noted six for the Broncos and nine by the Cowboys, most for improperly worn socks. Socks should show only white from the shoe to calf and only team colors from the calf to knee. Reynolds, with advice from NFL Properties, helps make sure Boyd doesn't miss a trick. A memo had advised Boyd that Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders' "Prime Time" gloves aren't NFL-licensed. Sanders wore them in warm-ups and was told through his team to change his gloves and fix his socks. "They all want to look good, but everybody has his own idea about what looking good is," Boyd said. "Everybody wants to be an individual. "A lot of them like to wear socks all the way down so they can show their calves or cool off on a hot day. "We don't want guys wearing pants above the knees. A lot of the receivers, real fast guys, want to be able to lift their knees."
	Pants must be worn below the kneecaps, which some players find confining.	Pants must be worn below the kneecaps, which some players find confining. Seahawks cornerback Shawn Springs, while wearing his pants short, returned an interception for a touchdown in each of the first two games this year. He complied with league rules the next week but wasn't satisfied with his performance. He went back to wearing his pants short and was fined $5,000. Boyd said that when he played, he slit his pants behind the knees to give him more freedom. Needless to say, he's wise to that violation. Players are advised of violations after warm-ups, and Boyd rechecks their uniforms when they return to the field before kickoff. "We make sure all the things we saw in warm-ups have been corrected," he said. Both teams were in compliance by kickoff and throughout the game. Consequently, Boyd's report to the league office the day after the game included no cause for action. Boyd nearly got involved, however, in the season's major logo controversy. Several Broncos have endorsement contracts with Experimental and Applied Services, a nutritional supplements firm, and gave it valuable free advertising last year. They displayed the EAS logo during post-game interviews and on the sideline, although EAS is not an NFL licensee. "The NFL decided to come down on them because it was inconsistent with league policy," Boyd said. "Last year I saw the EAS hats, the jackets and the T-shirts, and nobody said anything. I don't do anything until the league says that can't happen. "I'm there to enforce policy. I'm not one who creates policy." The NFL this year banned helmet visors unless prescribed by a physician. Players wearing them resemble Darth Vader. "They tend to depersonalize the game," Hunt said. "More than anything, it's for photographs and TV. All you can see is the black visor. You can't even see the person's eyes. It's distracting." Arizona Cardinals tackle Lomas Brown, without permission, wore a tinted visor last month in St. Louis and was sent off the field in the first quarter. He had to show referee Bernie Kukar a note from team doctor Wayne Kuhl, confirming the visor was to protect Brown's eyes. "I couldn't believe I had to get a note from the doctor," Brown said. "They have more rules in this league. What's next?"