Heady Days for Hair in the N.F.L. It was a scene worthy of the Roman Colosseum. After stuffing a run by Arizona's Andre Ellington in a game Nov. 17, Jacksonville defensive end Jason Babin emerged from the pile of bodies clutching a mysterious black tangle of what looked like snakes; he thrust it into the air like a victorious gladiator. "You pulled my dreads out, dog," Mr. Ellington wailed after the play, his vanity apparently injured worse than his scalp; clips of the play were repeated over and over on highlight shows, and were linked endlessly on blogs and Twitter. It seems fitting that the most viral moment so far this season is not a Peyton Manning touchdown bomb or an Adrian Peterson end-zone scamper, but, essentially, a haircut. The National Football League is having a hair moment, with players throughout the league exploring tonsorial frontiers that make a mockery of the sport's rigid, militaristic heritage. Mark Sanchez and his warmed-over K-Fed cornrows. Tiquan Underwood and his Kid "n Play high-top fade. Mike Iupati and his neo-punk death-hawk. We've come a long way from the Johnny Unitas flat-top. Sure, football has always had its peacocks (think no further than Joe Namath and his fur coat). But players generally had a hard time expressing their personal style on game days. Unlike baseball players, who have their on-field jewelry, and basketball players, who have their vast acreage of visible tattoos, football players are covered head to toe in protective gear, including a giant plastic dome on their heads that all but erases every last vestige of individuality. Touchdown-oriented stylistas, however, have found their way around those challenges, sporting headline-grabbing coiffures on the sideline and helmet-defying hairstyles, like the dreads of Mr. Ellington. Visible hair has grown ubiquitous in recent years on the gridiron; back in 2010, ESPN.com broke down the numbers: at least 180 pros were rocking tresses that were at least shoulder length, with defensive back easily the hairiest position (32 percent, compared with 12 percent of wide receivers and 7.9 percent of offensive linemen). Players take hair seriously. The article detailed how the Arizona receiver Larry Fitzgerald, a pioneer of the visible-hair movement, spends every Friday evening during the season in a home salon in his master bedroom, "complete with black leather pump chair, wash basin, TV and cone-of-silence hair dryer." "There are two types of dudes in the N.F.L.," Mr. Fitzgerald was quoted as saying. The dudes who care about their dreads and the dudes who don't. In some cases, the right hairstyle can enhance a player's on-field persona, giving him, theoretically, a degree of competitive advantage. Green Bay's gonzo linebacker Clay Matthews looks all the more terrifying with his blond Norse berserker locks fluttering in the breeze (pardon that Vikings-centric comparison, Packers fans). Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh's punishing safety, punctuates every hit with an explosion of black frizz bursting from his helmet. To judge from the record, he is well aware of the symbolic power of hair in combat. "Throughout history," he has been quoted saying, "every great warrior - the Greeks, the Samurais, the American Indians, the Mongolians, you name it - had long hair and would dress it before battle." Mr. Polamalu also proves that the right hair can pay dividends off the field. His Slash-meets-electric-socket black curls have earned him attention from GQ as well as a lucrative endorsement deal with Head & Shoulders shampoo - which, speaking of marketing prowess, made news by taking out a $1 million policy on its pitchman's hair with Lloyd's of London. No wonder that hair gossip has become a sport within a sport for fans, too. These days, N.F.L. hair inspires nearly as many dissections on blogs by armchair Mr. Blackwells as the zone-read offense. Consider New England quarterback Tom Brady, who has somehow managed to keep pace with his model wife, Gisele Bündchen, in runway-worthy hairstyles. Tracking Mr. Brady's hair has become a sub-industry for sports blogs, like the recent one that cataloged the "Ten Most Unwise Tom Brady Hairdos," including the Justin Bieber-esque "True Belieber," the "Half-Caesar" and the "Pompa-hawk." Not to be outdone, Mark Sanchez, the Jets" injured quarterback, has managed to whip up interest in media outlets as diverse as The Huffington Post and Business Insider with his evolving array of fashion-glossy hairstyles. "Mark Sanchez had cornrows because he lost a bet," a recent USA Today blog post reported. In a chat with reporters, the former "Sanchise" quarterback refused to divulge the details of the bet, although he did allow that it was either cornrows, a dye job or a shaven head (in that interview, Mr. Sanchez had already gone back to his previous hotly tweeted-about look: hair pulled back under a headband). "It was pretty bad, it was ugly," Mr. Sanchez said of the cornrows. But it generated headlines. And in today's N.F.L., that is worth at least 7 style points.