NFL Clarifies Smelling Salts Ban: Players Can Still Use Them, Just Not From Teams

George Kittle can now rest easy at night. Despite confusion surrounding a league memo sent to all 32 NFL teams on Tuesday, players will still be able to use smelling salts.

They’ll just have to bring their own.

BYOSS. Bring your own smelling salts.

On Wednesday, the NFL Players Association received clarification that the league’s ban on ammonia only applied to clubs providing the substance to players.

“We were not notified of this club policy change before the memo was sent out,” the union’s message said, according to ESPN. “To clarify, this policy does not prohibit player use of these substances, but rather it restricts clubs from providing or supplying them in any form. The NFL has confirmed this to us.”

So there you have it. You’ll still be able to catch glimpses of players on the sideline huffing little packets stuffed with ammonia.

Tuesday’s memo caused an explosion when San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle crashed NFL Network’s set at training camp to complain about the ammonia ban.

“I’ve been distraught all day,” Kittle said. “I considered retirement.”

Kittle admitted that he uses smelling salts every single drive. Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David told Kay Adams that he would also be searching for answers without smelling salts.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” David said.

Maybe the brief, 24-hour panic stirred up by the initial memo could serve as a wake-up call for NFL athletes to lean off ammonia.

Nope.

“Just spent 1k on smelling salts from Amazon,” Baltimore Ravens defensive back Marlon Humphrey wrote in a social media post.

It seems like a good handful of NFL athletes will now be purchasing their smelling salts in bulk because their teams will no longer be allowed to provide them. The initial statement detailed that the league’s top head, neck and spine doctor advised against the use of smelling salts due to a 2024 FDA warning, which stated that the use of ammonia inhalants could “mask certain neurological signs and symptoms, including some potential signs of concussions.”

In the 1980s and ’90s, some NFL players would tuck the lining of their pants with smelling salts. This allowed a hobbled player to quickly huff some ammonia while seeing stars to shake the cobwebs and return to action without missing a snap.

The league’s concussion protocol has certainly advanced since then. The NFL doesn’t want teams being responsible for their athletes defying concussion protocol.

But it’s fine if the players provide the loophole on their own.