Whether it's for injury, allergy, intimidation, or style, these players take masquerading to a whole other level.
The history of athletes wearing masks dates back over 50 years. So, let's pull the curtain, hit the lights, and take a look back at the top 10 athletes who rock the masks in sports history.
Kobe Bryant rocked a clear mask for the first three games after breaking his nose and went off for 30-plus points in his three-game winning streak.
When you combine Bromley's disturbing skull mask with the dreadfully ugly "V" sweater of the late 70s-era Canucks, you have perhaps the most menacing ensemble in the history of sports.
How do you take a team called the California Golden Seals and make them seem horrifying? Find a homeless drifter, paint a cobra-seal-dragon on his face, and put him in goal. Problem solved.
Boxing is as much about intimidating your opponent as it is about being a skilled fighter. Bernard Hopkins brings that bullying all the way to the ring with his Executioner mask.
After suffering a broken cheek when he was struck with a piece of concrete during a match, the Liverpool goalkeeper returned to the team with a rather startling zebra-print mask.
Gratton's goalie mask could be called artistic, but we'd prefer to call it horrifying. The Rangers legend looked part tiger, part Leatherface, and mostly insane manning the crease.
Never has a softer affliction looked so badass. Galen Rupp wears this Darth Vader mask to protect against pollen allergies.
Dave Parker fractured his jaw and shattered his cheekbone during a home plate collision with Mets catcher John Stearns. When he returned to the team, he was hidden behind this horrifyingly colorful face shield.
When Gary Cheevers was struck in the face with a puck during practice, he came up with the odd idea of illustrating stitches on each puck mark.
There was a time in hockey's history when it was considered soft to wear a mask. The only thing more disturbing than the mask itself was Jacques Plante's shattered face behind it.
To mask or not to mask, that's not a question for these 10 athletes.
