Being named a captain used to mean something. For a handful of teams, it still does.
The Steelers, for instance, have only four.
For too many teams, though, captaincy has become a token used to not piss off players who otherwise would be pissed off.
The Giants have 10 captains. Not a misprint. They have 10. It begs the question of what the other starters on the team did (or didn’t do) not to be named one.
The Raiders and Eagles are among teams with nine.
The NFL’s rules allow only eight players per game to wear the captain logo on their jersey. So, it is unclear how those teams will determine who doesn’t get the “C” every week and perhaps piss off a player the team was trying not to piss off by naming him a captain in the first place.
No more than six captains can go out to midfield for the coin toss.
Thus, a maximum of six captains seems like a good number. Otherwise, the “honor” isn’t really an honor.
