It's either sweeps month at C&EN or it's Superbowl time (article by Max Barnhardt):
...But part of what made the Helmet Catch—and so many other spectacular catches in the National Football League (NFL)—possible is a little bit of chemistry baked into the gloves worn by receivers.
Most football gloves are made from a fabric that has been coated on the palm and fingers with a silicone that gives players extra grip as they make a catch.
Manufacturers probably use polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as the main polymer on the surface of their gloves. Chains of PDMS are cross-linked to form a 3D network. Mike Brook, a synthetic polymer chemist at McMaster University, says chemists can give silicone all kinds of different properties by controlling the length of chains between cross-links.
Pretty cool article. I'm surprised this hasn't been covered before by C&EN, but I'm glad that it has. Read the whole thing!
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looks like Blogger doesn't work with anonymous comments from Chrome browsers at the moment - works in Microsoft Edge, or from Chrome with a Blogger account - sorry! CJ 3/21/20