What is the purpose of the tight narrow bands often worn on the arms above the elbows by college and pro football players?

What is the purpose of the tight narrow bands often worn on the arms above the elbows by college and pro football players?

Here are several answers to the question:

From answers.com:

Those narrow straps are to prevent tendinopathy. By taking some of the load off the muscles and tendons near their attachment points they reduce the likelihood of tearing, particularly of the triceps tendon when falling on the hands. Physical therapists give these to the players to prevent lateral and medial epicondylitis and outright rupture injury and keep them in the game with less pain.

From livestrong.com:

Players on NFL and college football teams wear bicep bands. Bicep bands range in color and size and can be worn on one or both arms. The bands are made from old socks, swatches of stretchy material or athletic tape. Nike and the NFL also have their own lines of logo-endorsed bicep bands.

Function

Athletes wear these bands for a simple reason: vanity. Football and basketball players think the bands make their muscles look bigger. Bicep bands, like wristbands and headbands, also catch and absorb sweat.

Speculation

Bicep bands have no impact on the treatment of bicep pain, despite speculation to the contrary. Biceps tendinopathy, a disorder resulting from repetitive overuse of the bicep tendons, results in inflammation, pain and impaired function. Treatment of tendinopathy consists of reducing the inflammation, swelling and pain through physical therapy and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Despite speculated that bicep bands can help build muscle if worn during weight lifting, no medical proof backs up this claim.

From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tendinopathy