‘Yeah, that looks bad’: Eric Stokes, Black teammates describe dreadlock maintenance during Packers season

GREEN BAY − When the San Francisco 49ers ended the Green Bay Packers' season in late January, cornerback Eric Stokes rushed home to Covington, Georgia.

Sure, he missed his family, but another, more pressing issue stewed in his mind: clipping his seven-year-old dreadlocks.

Stokes immediately made the 35-mile drive west to Atlanta to see his hair stylist.

"They were too long," Stokes said. "When I started back playing last year, I saw my whole name on the back covered up. I saw it on film and I was like, 'Yeah, that looks bad.' So the moment the season was over, the first thing I did when I got back home was trim them back down."

Stokes is one of multiple Packers with locs, a hairstyle that's exploding in popularity across the board, not just in sports.

For some Black Americans, the hairstyle is a novel option now protected under the CROWN Act, which prevents discrimination against race-based hairstyles.

For others, including some Packers, locs are a stylish escape from the persisting, almost daily question of what to do with their hair.

"I started off with braids," second-year receiver Jayden Reed said. "I got tired of taking them down, putting them back in. Locs just last longer, and then you can take them out and do two-strands, barrels. And you can just leave them down and do freestyle."

"I just got tired of getting haircuts," running back Jarveon Howard said. "I got tired of sitting in barbershops and spending unnecessary money, so I decided to lock it up and let it go."

Although locs are typically associated with Black hair, the style also has origins in Polynesian and Indigenous culture. They're the signature look of reggae legend Bob Marley, rapper Snoop Dogg and dozens of professional athletes.

They form when hair mats and locks together to create defined strands. The root of each strand remains loose, allowing for hair growth. The new growth, which causes a "messy" look, is added to the loc during a "re-twist."

Stokes is a subscriber to the Deion Sanders adage, "look good, feel good, play good." The veteran cornerback tries to book his re-twists based on the schedule.

"It just depends on the city," he said. "If I go back home, if we're playing Atlanta, I have to get a fresh haircut, fresh re-twist. But it could be a Sunday night game and we're going to Buffalo. I couldn't really care less, because, again, it's Buffalo.

"For me, typically it depends on the city more than Sunday night or whatever."

Now, though, few Packers care about their look during the dog days of training camp.

"In camp, I don't care," Reed admitted. "I just let it flow."

Depending on the stage of the locs, a re-twist is required about every two to three months. Reed, though, gets his hair done bi-weekly during the season for one reason.

"Helmet hair is real," he said. "You wear the helmet, the (hairdo) goes away quicker."

Safety Benny Sapp III echoed Reed: "Oh yeah, definitely, in season my hair definitely frizzes up a lot quicker than not having a helmet."

Helmets trap sweat on the scalp, causing the re-twisted loc to unravel. Howard doesn't mind the frizzy look.

"We're football players, nobody's trying to look cute," Howard said. "I mean in football, typically you don't see us anyway until the interview comes. I'll put a beanie on or something like that and I'm fine.

"When you get in crunch time during the season, I'm not too worried about it, just how I perform."

Howard wears wicks, a style of multiple locs combined into a few strands.

Wicks provide a stronger anchor on the scalp at the cost of constant frizz, but the running back is more focused on making the roster.

"Neat freak? Nah," he said. "You can't even tell how my hair looks until I take my helmet off. You don't know. Typically wicks look like this, they look messier, but I like the messy look."

Stokes likes the cleaner approach, which is why he's planning for a re-twist before the start of the season. This year, he can play freely knowing his name is clearly visible on the back of his jersey.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: ‘Yeah, that looks bad’: Eric Stokes, Black teammates describe dreadlock maintenance during Packers season