Updated October 2026
Smelling Salts in the NFL: What the 2025 Ban Actually Says
Smelling salts in the NFL changed on August 5, 2025: a league memo banned teams from providing ammonia inhalants during games, citing the FDA's 2024 warning and concussion-masking risk — but after George Kittle's on-air protest, the NFLPA clarified that players may still use their own. Here's the whole story, from Aaron Rodgers' sideline ritual to the exact wording of the policy.
How did the NFL smelling-salts ban happen?
For decades
Ammonia capsules are a sideline fixture. Aaron Rodgers was long the most visible user — cameras caught his pregame sniff-and-grimace so often it became a broadcast trope.
August 2024
The FDA warns consumers against ammonia inhalants marketed for alertness and energy, citing a lack of safety evidence — the warning the NFL would later quote.
August 5, 2025
The league memo lands: clubs are prohibited from providing ammonia inhalants in any form — capsules, inhalers, “ammonia in a cup” — during pregame, games, and halftime. Rationale: no proven safety benefit, and ammonia can mask concussion signs. George Kittle crashes a live NFL Network interview: “I honestly just came up here to air a grievance... I've been distraught all day.”
August 6, 2025
The NFLPA clarifies to players: the policy restricts clubs from supplying the products — it does not prohibit players from using their own. Kittle can keep sniffing; his equipment manager can't hand them out.
Why is concussion the real issue?
The 2024 Sports Health systematic review spells out the problem the league memo leaned on: ammonia inhalants have no role in managing head injuries. The involuntary withdrawal reflex — the head jerk — can exacerbate an existing brain injury, and the alertness jolt can mask concussion signs long enough for a player to talk his way back onto the field. In a sport whose biggest medical liability is brain trauma, a sideline product that papers over concussion symptoms was living on borrowed time.
What the salts actually do to a healthy user — the reflex, the heart-rate spike, what the strength studies found — is covered on what do smelling salts do, and the full risk rundown is in are smelling salts bad for you.
NFL smelling salts FAQ
Are smelling salts banned in the NFL?
Partially. Since August 5, 2025, NFL clubs are prohibited from providing or supplying ammonia inhalants — capsules, inhalers, or “ammonia in a cup” — during pregame activities, games, and halftime. But the NFLPA clarified on August 6, 2025 that players may still use smelling salts they bring themselves. Team distribution is banned; personal use is not.
Why did the NFL restrict smelling salts?
Two reasons stated in the league memo: the FDA's 2024 warning that alertness-marketed ammonia inhalants lack safety and efficacy evidence, and the concussion problem — ammonia inhalation can mask neurologic signs of a head injury, and the involuntary head-jerk reflex it triggers can worsen an existing brain injury. The NFL's Head, Neck and Spine Committee recommended the prohibition.
Why do football players use smelling salts at all?
For the jolt: ammonia triggers an involuntary sharp inhale and an adrenaline-type arousal spike lasting under a minute — useful-feeling before kickoff or a big series. The evidence says that's all it is: a 2024 systematic review found no performance benefit in short maximal efforts, just elevated arousal and the perception of performing better.
Did Aaron Rodgers really use smelling salts?
Yes — his sideline ammonia ritual was filmed for years and widely covered. He's the reason “aaron rodgers smelling salts” is its own search term. Under the 2025 policy, a player like Rodgers can still use his own salts; the team just can't be the supplier.
What did George Kittle say about the ban?
On August 5, 2025, the 49ers tight end interrupted a live NFL Network interview: “I honestly just came up here to air a grievance. Our team got a memo today that smelling salts and ammonia packets were made illegal in the NFL, and I've been distraught all day.” He joked he'd “considered retirement.” The NFLPA's clarification the next day meant he could keep using his own.
Are smelling salts banned in other sports?
Mostly no. Ammonia isn't on the World Anti-Doping Agency list; powerlifting's IPF allows it out of public view; hockey benches still use it openly. The NFL's team-distribution restriction is the strictest policy in a major league so far — and it's concussion-driven, which is why collision sports moved first.