Sports Tattoos
Watching any professional sports event on TV, it seems that almost all of the athletes on the screen have some sort of tattoo gracing their bodies. Athletes with full arm tattoos, tattoos on chests, necks and even legs have been spotted all over the place. What is the correlation between tattoos and sports?
There must be some deep meaning as to why athletes get their bodies marked with ink as opposed to people from other professions. It seems to have become a serious fashion accessory with so many athletes with tattoos that one wonders if there are any athletes without tattoos out there. There is something special about getting a tattoo that has enamoured so many athletes all over the world.
Tattoos on athletes are not restricted to a specific sport or even a specific country. It seems to be the case that if an athlete is a sports star, it doesn't really matter where they are from, they will have a tattoo on them somewhere.
People get tattoos for a variety of reasons; as a form of self expression, as rebellion from society, to show connections and affiliations to groups and as something they just want to do.From Europe to America to even Algeria, it doesn't matter where the athlete is from, some form of tattoo can be spotted.
Some of the heaviest tattooed athletes can be found in football, basketball, boxing and American football. Watching the current World Cup shows just how many footballers are tattooed. Probably the heaviest tattooed footballer is England's David Beckham who has tattoos all over his body. A surprising footballer to have tattoos is Algeria's Abdel Kader Ghezzal because tattoos are not all that common in the country. It could be though that tattoos are universal and even being from Algeria doesn't stop someone having a few tattoos on them.
Boxing is one sport where tattoos are almost universal. It seems every boxer out there has some sort of ink on them. Could it be that because boxing is a violent sport and boxers are tough guys who want to show how tough they are they get tattoos for this very purpose. One of the oddest boxers out there, Mike Tyson, has even had his face tattooed. An article about his tattoo mentioned that it was probably inspired by the Maori warriors of New Zealand who had their faces tattooed to show their fighting spirit. Maybe Tyson wanted to tap into that same spirit by having his face done as well. The tattoo didn't seem to help him too much because he has since filed for bankruptcy.
Basketball is another sport where players are heavily tattooed. "The NBA (National Basketball Association) is one professional sport with heavy tattoo "coverage." Nearly 30% of NBA players have at least one tattoo, compared to approximately 4% percent of the total U.S. population". The article this quote was taken from gives an insight into a possible reason why tattoos are so prevalent in sports. It says that tattoos have become part of a style image that the athletes cultivate and maintain. Tattoos have become a source of pride for athletes and are shown off at every turn.
The next trend to hit the sports world will probably be having no tattoos and athletes will be seen having their tattoos removed. This is the odd thing about getting inked; once it becomes too common it loses its appeal and people don't find them interesting or rebellious anymore. Having a tattoo has become acceptable in the world these days and no one looks twice at someone with a tattoo and this has been mirrored in different sports as well. Twenty years ago tattoos in sport were not very common but as they have become more widespread, athletes have been seen piling them on.
Tattooing is an ancient art form that has been practised all over the world. Today it is dominating the world of sports and soon it will be so commonplace that it will become a worldwide phenomenon. For that we have the icons of the sports world, the idols of millions, to thank, for spreading the craze.
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