You’ve seen it on the sidelines: a quick snap of a capsule, a sharp inhale, and suddenly a player’s eyes widen like they’ve just been plugged into a socket. Smelling salts have basically become the NFL’s not-so-secret pick-me-up. Players are obsessed with them, doctors raise eyebrows, and now they’ve somehow landed in the middle of a way bigger league fight.

But what if the drama isn’t really about those little capsules at all? What if the real story is why the NFL won’t (or maybe can’t) ban them? One insider says this goes way beyond a whiff of ammonia. We’re talking power moves, politics, and a fight Roger Goodell might be too nervous to touch.

On The Dan Patrick Show, Mike Florio broke it down plain and simple: players still sniffing salts isn’t some loophole. No, it’s because the NFL can’t just slam the door shut on them. A real league-wide ban would have to go through the NFLPA, which means Goodell can’t just wave the commissioner’s wand and make them disappear. Bottom line? If he tries to nuke them solo, it’s gonna cost him big at the bargaining table.

“If the league were to go to the players and say we want a ban on smelling salts, the players would say, ‘What’s in it for us?’ It’s like Marijuana, legal in most states. Why don’t we just get rid of it? It’s a collective bargaining issue,” he said. The Marijuana symbolisation is as good as he can explain.

Let’s give you some context. The NFL recently passed a memo. Teams and team personnel can no longer provide ammonia inhalants. But here’s the kicker: players can still use them as long as they bring their own stash. That’s how we ended up with the new sideline slogan. “BYOSS: Bring Your Own Smelling Salts.”

So why’s the NFL even trying to crack down? The league’s medical line is pretty clear: smelling salts can cover up concussion symptoms, and there’s zero proof they actually work as some magic energy boost. All it does is prevent the ability to detect those concussions. You’d think that would be enough for Roger Goodell to straight-up ban them. But no, it all comes down to collective bargaining.

What we’ve got now is basically a middle-ground truce. The league gets to say, “Hey, we took team-supplied salts off the table,” while the union gets to flex that players still call their own shots. Everybody saves face. But if you were expecting some hard reset, Florio says, don’t hold your breath. And Kyle Shanahan? He clearly didn’t get the memo.

Kyle Shanahan refuses to play hall monitor

Earlier this month, Niners star George Kittle made it crystal clear how much he hated the idea of a salts ban. He went as far as saying that he might just retire if the NFL actually pulled them from games. Yeah, that’s how serious his pre-snap ritual is to him.

And when reporters brought up Kittle’s smelling salts routine, Kyle Shanahan didn’t bat an eye. His response? “George will find a way.” Translation: if the league’s not flat-out banning players from bringing their own, don’t expect Shanahan to start cracking down. Policing salts isn’t on his to-do list.

Kyle Shanahan even fessed up that he still cracks a few salts himself. A little hint that shows just how flimsy this so-called “ban” really is. And sure enough, the follow-up reports backed it up: teams can’t hand them out anymore, but players are free to bring their own. Which means Kittle’s ritual? Still totally in bounds.

“If someone gives me one, I’ll take a smell of the salt,” Shanahan said with a little chuckle. “I’m not too worried about it. I like to take one to wake myself up and lock myself in. If they don’t allow that, I’ll probably shake my head a few times, smack myself and get ready to lock in.” Yeah, the smelling salts saga might never end.