That’s why you see players wearing no sleeves in freezing temperatures. It’s better to have the skin of your arms exposed when playing football, especially as a ball carrier, because one of the “points of pressure” when carrying the ball is the forearm. When you tuck it in tight, the pigskin and your skin make one skin, and the ball is easier to hold. If you put on some poly-techno-Lycra long-sleeve shirt, the intimacy is lost, and the ball falls to the ground.

Ever since I started playing football, the closer to naked I was, the more connected I felt to my task. I wore no undershirt under my pads, no cup (no one wears a cup) and no gloves until I got to the N.F.L. and my fingers started snapping like chicken bones. Finger injuries are a constant in the N.F.L., but you never hear about them because, c’mon, it’s your finger! Suck it up! I wore gloves for protection (as well as a thin strip of tape on each finger between each knuckle). But not for warmth. My idealism was hot enough.

But even idealism freezes up on the sidelines. Football is a lot of standing around for everyone, starters included. And for players like me, special teamers who play sparingly on offense or defense, staying warm on the sidelines is an art. Cold muscles don’t fire well. To step on the field cold and sprint 60 yards covering a kickoff is to dare the Laws of Snap.

The sideline benches are heated. They’re made of hollow metal and hot air is pumped through. Sit for too long and your ass burns. But your hamstrings are nice and loose. Next to the bench is also an industrial-size heater — it looks like an airplane propeller — that blows all game long. I stood in front of one on a cold December day once and turned my attention to the field. My parka caught on fire. I stopped, dropped and rolled.

Up in the stands there is beer to warm the heart. But not on the field. We played a game in Kansas City one year. It was very cold. I wasn’t suited up for the game. I was inactive, doing my best to stay warm. One of my fellow inactives handed me a Gatorade bottle with white athletic tape wrapped around it. Drink first, ask questions later. I took a swig: Gatorade’s newest flavor. Very similar to cognac.