Ezekiel Elliott took the college football world by storm in 2014, leading the Buckeyes to the first-ever College Football Playoff Titleby gutting three consecutivetop-10 teams for a combined 696 rushing yards. Ohio State's title run certainly made Elliott a household name, but it also madehis game day wardrobe a social media sensation.
Elliott startedrolling up his jersey like a crop top as early asthe2014 opener against Navy, but it garnered little attentionas the then-sophom*ore out of St. Louisbegan the season relatively unknown tothe college football world.
Early on, Elliottsplitcaries with Curtis Samuel, Rod Smith and Dontre Wilson as the Buckeyes searched for a viable replacement for the departed Carlos Hyde – Urban Meyer's first 1,000-yard rusher at tailback. By midseasonhowever, Elliott had established himself as the team's feature back, and people began to take notice of his game daywardrobe.
Initially, the reason for the rolled-up jerseywasn't to show off his abs, to have a iconic look, orto pay homage to old time greats like Eddie George. It was simply for comfort.
“I just don’t like how loose jerseys are at the bottom, so I just tuck it up and roll it," Elliotttold USA Today Sports.“I get in trouble for it every once in awhile. I’ll have to come out at halftime, pull my jersey down and tuck it in.”
Regardless of motive, it wasn't long before Elliott made his mark on the college football,and his famouscrop top look took on a life of its own.
Following Ohio State'stitle run, hundreds, if not thousands of photos were shared on social mediaoffans donningcrop tops of their own –from peewee football players to high school prom goers–many of which were retweetedby the self-proclaimed "Hero in a Half Shirt" himself.
But just as the iconic lookbegan to gain popularity,the NCAA took a page from theNo Fun League.In March of 2015, the NCAA Football Rules Committeeapproved legislation that effectively banned Elliott's iconic look.
Officials will treat illegal equipment issues – such as jerseys tucked under the shoulder pads or exposed back pads – by making the player leave the field for at least one play. The equipment must be corrected for the player to return to the game. The player may remain in the game if his team takes a timeout to correct the equipment issue.
The NCAA can legislatefun away, but they can't kill it entirely. The crop top train was already rolling with steam, and NCAA regulations were powerless to stop it. In fact, they might have given it fuel. An online petition for the NCAA to reverse the rulecirculated around social media with the hashtag #SaveTheCropTopand ultimately gainednearly 12,000 signatures.
Despite the Internet's best efforts, the petition was unsuccessful and the new regulations were implemented during the 2015 season. Elliott could no longer wear his crop top during games. Even then, however, the iconic look still did not die.
Buckeye fans had grown fond ofthe star running back's staple look and kept it alive themselves.Ohio State's official student section, BlockO, even put together a crop top card-stunt and several students donnedthe crop top look with painted-on abs during a home game.
Hey @EzekielElliott, Block O is #TeamCropTop! #CropTops4Life pic.twitter.com/RH3FJA2MUL
— Block O (@OSUBlockO) September 27, 2015
Meanwhile, Elliott continued to wear his jersey rolled upin pregame warmups,practice, team interviews, and sometimes even after plays. The crop top became his identity, and his trademark – literally. According to the Associated Press, Elliott filed a trademark on the restaurant name "Zeke's Crop Top Bar and Grill" in August of 2015.
Elliott's Buckeye career came to a close after the 2015 season as he elected to take his talents (and his crop top) to the NFL. He's sincemade quite thesplash with his trademark look, showing up to the 2016 NFL Draft with a crop top dress shirt under his jacket and rolling up his jersey the first time he wore a full Cowboy's uniform. The Dallas Cowboys even told NBCDFW.com that aCowboy'sEzekiel Elliott half shirt is in the works.
New Cowboy Ezekiel Elliott brought his half-shirt to the NFLPA Rookie Premiere. (via @darrenrovell) pic.twitter.com/GHlu4EVO2F
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 21, 2016
Elliott hasn't donned the look in a game in an entire season, and likely never will againgiven that NFL rules statethe jersey "must be appropriately tailored to remain tucked into the uniform pants throughout the game."But rest assured, the crop top is alive and well despite the bans and regulations, and given its stoicism, it will likely be around for quite some time.
The crop top is invincible. The crop top is here to stay.Long live the crop top.
