Smelling Salts NOT Banned by NFL - (updated scents!)

[stevewin]

A couple years ago we got passes to go down on the field after the game.  One thing I couldn't believe was how many used smelling salt packets were on the actual playing field

[frostbitmic]

Players will just go into the blue medical tent to get their snootful before heading back onto the field. Will the NFL have officials in the tent or on the sidelines to prevent this ?

[T master]

It could be because of the concussion thing, I'm sure if you got your bell rung and they stuck some smelling salts under you r nose you'd be good to go back out and play for a minute .

[PonyBoy]

23 hours ago, Billl said:

I’ve even seen them used to heal ankles.

 

No, you're thinking of Bio Freeze that they spray on injured soccer players and then they majically get up once the foul is called. 

 

 

[Mikie2times]

I don't think you should be able to post in this thread unless you're on smelling salts. 

[boyst]

8 hours ago, Fleezoid said:

Ummm, how do you test for smelling salt abuse?

 

 

 

 

 

3rd thread to have an Airplane reference in a week. Amazing. 

[Dablitzkrieg]

No longer banned...

 

 

 

[Buffalo716]

3 hours ago, frostbitmic said:

Players will just go into the blue medical tent to get their snootful before heading back onto the field. Will the NFL have officials in the tent or on the sidelines to prevent this ?

That's a independent neurologist in there so I'm pretty sure they would flag people if they went in there to sniff smelling salts lol

[Steve Billieve]

I don't think this is even enforceable for regular player use, like what are they going to do, test every cloth you have on your person and available to you? I have to assume that it is mostly about team injury protocol, and what the medical staff is allowed to do more than what players are allowed to use in all practical terms.

[Beck Water]

9 hours ago, US Egg said:

Cripes, we get our “bell rung” in H.S. football. Snap, sniff, head rush, back in good as new. No big deal. I remember a couple times….well, I don’t exactly remember, but that’s not the point. 

 

And this is why the NFL has banned them, just as boxing did.

 

It's not that they're a PED.  It's not that they're bad for your spleen (WAT?).

 

It's that they can mask the effects of a concussion.

40 minutes ago, Steve Billieve said:

I don't think this is even enforceable for regular player use, like what are they going to do, test every cloth you have on your person and available to you? I have to assume that it is mostly about team injury protocol, and what the medical staff is allowed to do more than what players are allowed to use in all practical terms.

 

Ammonia is quite volatile.  You can't keep it on a cloth.  You have to break an ampule or open a vial or pour some on a cloth just before use

That said, I would think it's something that could be snuck - just not by keeping a cloth on your person.

 

4 hours ago, Dablitzkrieg said:

No longer banned...

 

 

 

 

So how's this work, the players have to each bring their own little private pouch o' ampules?

5 hours ago, T master said:

It could be because of the concussion thing, I'm sure if you got your bell rung and they stuck some smelling salts under you r nose you'd be good to go back out and play for a minute .

 

It's exactly why it is. 

Edited August 7 by Beck Water

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

How the hell are they going to enforce this ? Test people for salt ?

[HOUSE]

First player fined or suspended for sniffing ammonia in the bathroom at the stadium is ______________?

Probably Baker Mayfied or TUA

 

 

[Don Otreply]

On 8/6/2025 at 7:55 AM, WotAGuy said:

{sniff}

I hate you. 

Hype that hate!!!’

[SoonerBillsFan]

On 8/6/2025 at 5:20 AM, Dafan said:

Sorry, but playing your favorite song doesn't wake you up when knocked out...smelling salts tend to.  Do I agree with banning them, not really.  But comparing to listening to a song doesn't compare.

In the Air tonight Drum fill or as I call it "Drum Phil"  Will wake you from the dead!  LOL

 

[Sierra Foothills]

On 8/5/2025 at 3:57 PM, WotAGuy said:

I use both before logging into TBD. Gets me ready to hate stuff. 

 

On 8/5/2025 at 4:23 PM, WotAGuy said:

You just took a hit, didn’t you?

 

20 hours ago, WotAGuy said:

I remember when I could get a stiffy too. Good times. 

 

At the risk of incurring your hatred, I hereby nominate you for "The Winner of the Internet" on this day, Thursday, August 7, 2025.

 

Congratulations good Sir!

 

That business having been done, I'll devote the remainder of this post to answering questions arising from this new and confounding NFL policy banning the distribution of "smelling salts" by the clubs.

 

On 8/5/2025 at 4:24 PM, That's No Moon said:

Can McDaniel keep hitting his vape on the sideline?

 

No.

 

NFL coaches are prohibited from vaping while in the playing field area and during television interviews. The NFL's policy states that players and other league employees, including coaches and officials, must not use alcohol or tobacco products (including vaping products) in these specific locations. 

 

On 8/5/2025 at 4:59 PM, Matt_In_NH said:

The heal is on the ankle duh

 

Yes.

 

Also, the shin bone is connected to the trom bone.

 

On 8/5/2025 at 5:29 PM, The Wiz said:

So now guys are going to start wiping their faces with towels a bunch with a hidden pocket inside of it, aren't they?

 

Not exactly.

 

"Huffing" is the term used for inhaling chemicals from a cloth and this dangerous practice requires no "hidden pockets."

 

Going forward, huffing will likely be the method of choice for NFL players (and Adam Gase) when dosing ammonia.

 

21 hours ago, JP51 said:

I also heard that they have a negative effect on the spleen.... so there is that LOL .... 

 

Possibly.

 

The effects of smelling salts (ammonia) on the spleen is not a well-researched area, therefore pathologists are hesitant to link ammonia exposure to splenic disorders although some research has shown a correlation with hyperammonemia and splenomagaly.

 

 

15 hours ago, frostbitmic said:

Players will just go into the blue medical tent to get their snootful before heading back onto the field. Will the NFL have officials in the tent or on the sidelines to prevent this ?

 

No. See below.

 

12 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

That's a independent neurologist in there so I'm pretty sure they would flag people if they went in there to sniff smelling salts lol

 

Yes.

 

While there's sure to be a workaround for taking smelling salts (see "huffing"' above), it's unlikely to involve the blue medical tent.

 

At the risk of getting @machine gun kelly aroused, the tent (and its associated poles) is only erected for medical examinations/concerns... such as for a spleen palpation or to treat an overdose of sildenafil, for instance.

 

21 hours ago, RangerDave said:

So, can they still snort Red Bull on the sidelines?

 

No.

 

NFL rules state that league-approved energy drinks be either ingested from league-approved cups or administered intravenously by a licensed physician.

 

8 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

How the hell are they going to enforce this ? Test people for salt ?

 

Yes.

 

In cases where a player is suspected of violating the prohibition on ammonia, NFL medical protocols require that either the back judge or the side judge take a swab of the suspected player's armpit to be used in a hypernatremia test. A blood serum sample may also be taken in cases where hypernatremia is indicated or suspected.

 

20 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

There is no deleterious effect on the spleen and is not a performing enhanced drug that can increase strength or speed.  Heck, Janitors get a good dose of this when using industrial cleaners.

 

On the discussion of janitors (and more generally workers) and ammonia, it's well-known among scholars of the industrial revolutions that ammonia was pumped into the ventilation duct work of factories and mills in order  to increase worker productivity. Forensic pathologists in conjunction with forensic anthropologists examining the exhumed remains of 19th-century wool-spinning workers in Northern Wales have not proven a link between chronic ammonia exposure and splenal disorders.

 

I hope this post clarifies some of your questions.

 

[Canadian Bills Fan]

On 8/5/2025 at 6:46 PM, Buffalo716 said:

They definitely give you a quick burst of energy synthetically to what fight or flight is

 

It's why powerlifters use them before record-breaking lifts...

 

My friend is in junior hockey coach in Canada in a very big league.. and he gives his kids smelling salts before sending them out the fight 

 

It obviously has some advantage 

 

Now it's been used in football for a long time 

 

 

 

OHL??

[DrDawkinstein]

NFL going to a BYOA model. Roger is cheap!

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

"Hello, I represent Johnson and Johnson.  Can we discuss a mutually beneficial agreement to your league to become the official ammonia inhalant of the NFL?"

*
EDIT:  The result, NFL gets a boatload of $ and ammonia inhalants from J&J, your box of 100 Band-Aids now costs $19.95. 🤨

Edited August 7 by Ridgewaycynic2013

[Just in Atlanta]

Update:

Players can use smelling salts as long as the smelling salts are their smelling salts. Teams, however, cannot supply said smelling salts. 

...

 

It's on like a mofo. 

[Fleezoid]

Looking forward to all NFL cameras this weekend zooming in to dudes cracking smelling salt tubes or packages before going out on the field.