For the first time in spring ball, the Badgers brought out the shoulder pads and started to play with ... and a great way to get daily updates on UW football, basketball, recruiting, and more ...

As these photos show, football uniforms have come ... on the other side of the spectrum, to have players wear shoulder pads reinforced with sheet metal, an innovation of the famed Jim Thorpe.

Vanderbilt defensive end Caleb Azubike admits some skepticism when a GPS device was inserted into his shoulder pads during a recent football practice. "I had no clue what it was or how it worked ...