Updated: 7:15 p.m.
A proposal by the Kanas City Chiefs that prohibits hair from obscuring a player's nameplate and numbers could force the high-profile locks of T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Domata Peko to be put inside helmets or jerseys.
The NFL owners vote on the hair-brained scheme at next week's annual league meetings.
And Houshmandzadeh is adamant that his 10-year-old ponytail won't fall victim.
"I don't ever hear my name come up on that. I maintain my hair. It's not wild," Houshmandzadeh said. "They're talking about guys like Al Harris and Troy Polamalu."
Houshmandzadeh argues that the long line that goes about halfway down his back is so thin that it doesn't obscure enough of the letters and numbers to matter.
"My name is too long to do that," he said. "(Peko) is going to have to do something about that. Get the braids out."
Houshmandzadeh, who says he's never been tackled by the hair since he started growing it in 1998, said if he's told he can't play with it outside the uniform, he'll put it inside.
"Sometimes it gets caught up in my shoulder pads," Houshmandzadeh said. "I'll make it work like I have everything else in my career. But I won't cut it."
And Houshmandzadeh, the Bengals player representative to the NFL Players Association, may have more than hygiene on his side. On Wednesday a fellow player rep alerted him to Section 2, Artice 7 of the CBA:
"Clubs may make and enforce reasonable rules governing players' appearance on the field and in public places while representing the Clubs, provided, however, that no player will be disciplined because of hair length or facial hair."
