For NFL quarterback hopefuls, (hand) size matters

Many seasonal micro-peculiarities permeate the sports world, but among the more bizarre is an annual February debate over NFL quarterbacks. 

It boils down to this: Does size matter? (Relax, we're talking about hand size here.)

Let's take Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen as our case study. He threw for 30 touchdowns last year -- that's a lot, if you didn't know -- and is hoping to be selected in April's NFL Draft. 

But he entered this week's NFL Scouting Combine -- in which future pros are measured, prodded, timed and asked all manner of questions by team executives -- with something to prove. He had to measure up. 

You see, at the Senior Bowl last month, Allen's hands were measured to be 8 1/2 inches long. Of all the senior quarterbacks at the game, Allen's hands were the smallest. 

Cue the sad trombone.

This isn't just a genetic anomaly that would get you picked on in a middle school locker room -- it could significantly hurt Allen's professional chances. 

Will he be able to grip the football under pressure in the NFL? Will he be able to command an offense in inclement weather -- or will he be too worried about the football slipping from his small, baby hands? 

Those are the questions some NFL execs ask this time of year -- and the reason Allen employed a masseuse prior to the combine. Why a masseuse? In hopes of loosening up his hands a bit and giving him a few more fractions of an inch. 

Making it all more amusing: There is not exactly a consensus about how much hand measurements matter. In an NFL.com article this week, one team personnel executive called it "a bit of a useless measurement." 

But still, if this is your professional future on the line, you aren't going to take any chances. 

Allen told Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports he employed the hand masseuse “to maybe get another 1/2 inch or 1/4 inch here or there because the muscles in my hands were really tight and this can loosen them up. I have long fingers. It’s worth a shot."

Now, for context, via the Dallas Morning News: The average American male hand is 7.44 inches long, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo's hands are 8 7/8 inches long, Cam Newton's hands are 9 7/8 inches long and Brett Favre's hands were a whopping 10 3/8 inches long. 

So that's the world Allen's relatively small hands live in. But get this next bit. 

After measuring at 8 1/2 inches at the Senior Bowl last month, Allen's hand measurement at the combine this Thursday came in at 8 7/8 -- showing a gain of nearly half an inch. 

He credits -- you guessed it -- that masseuse, according to Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports. 

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Rather hard to believe? Certainly, but the numbers are the numbers. 

Then there's the case of Cal's Jared Goff, who entered this spring's draft a year early and is a candidate be selected first overall. 

Goff's NFL Scouting Combine hand measurement came in at 9 inches this week. That's not as bad as Allen's 8 1/2 at the Senior Bowl, but Goff's status as a potential top pick opens him up to even more scrutiny than other prospects. 

"It matters because we play in a division where all of a sudden there's rain, there's snow and it's different," Hue Jackson, coach of the Cleveland Browns, told NFL.com. "I think guys that have big hands can grip the ball better in those environmental situations." 

Goff, for his part, seemed somewhat bemused by the whole thing.

"I've been told I have pretty big hands my whole life," Goff told reporters Thursday. "I heard I have small hands yesterday, apparently. Naw, I've never had a problem with that or expect it to be a problem at all."

Goff's right -- his mitts are big by normal standards! It's just that the NFL, on the other hand, is outsized in every way. 

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