The top-9 athlete goatees of the 90s
Facial hair, like all fashion trends, comes in and out of style in a cycle.
The modern hip way for men to decorate their face is the unkempt beard, a revival of the style that dominated the wild and untamed 1960s. The 70s saw the rise of sideburns, and the 80s introduced us to the magic of the moustache, a style that saw a recent revival laden in irony.
The 1990s were dominated by the crisp, clean look of a well-maintained goatee.
Art has been said to imitate life, and vice versa. In the 90s, no artist resonated as heartily with the modern public like professional wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
Stone Cold spent his nights beating up his boss, chugging beer, and serving up Stone Cold Stunners to anyone that dared step into the ring with him. And he did it all while sporting the iconic goatee.
The sports world took notice, and the decade was dominated by athletes putting their best face forward, one that often featured a finely maintained outline of hair starting just below the nose and ending on the chin.
In honor of "The Rattlesnake", in no particular order, here are the top nine athlete goatees of the 90s.
Owen Nolan
There is a silly rumor out there that Owen Nolan was born with a goatee. This could not be further from the truth. In reality, Owen Nolan's goatee came first and he grew up around it.
Gary Payton
Gary Payton's goatee took no mess. An infamous trash-talker, The Glove's manicured mouth-curtain served to give a frame of reference to opposing guards as to where the stream of expletives being thrown at them was coming from.
Mike Piazza
The greatest hitting catcher of his generation, Piazza perplexed pitchers with a seemingly impossibly well-maintained goatee. Over the course of 16 years he ran the gamut of upper-lip maintenance, but never looked as much at home as he did with a classic New York goatee.
Jeff Bagwell
Jeff Bagwell had a lovely 15-year career, with 449 home runs and a .297/.408/.540 line, making a fun debate about whether or not he deserves to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. What can't be debated is that Bagwell was a goatee connoisseur, seeming to draw his power from the ugliness hanging off his chin.
Tupac Shakur
Okay, technically Pac wasn't an athlete, he did star as Birdie, a local thug in the movie Above The Rim. It would be shortsighted to not include Tupac in any list honoring the most influential figures on the 90s, and equally shortsighted to minimize the role his Van Dyke played in sculpting the faces of future generations.
Scott Stevens
New Jersey Devils defenceman Scott Stevens was, above all else, absolutely terrifying. Known for delivering borderline murderous body checks, Stevens marched to his own drum. When others grew playoff beards, he sported the playoff goatee. Seeing Stevens with a goatee meant one thing: it was time to keep your head up.
Karl Malone
6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, the Mailman's goatee was there to outline an immovable scowl. Though Malone would often play around with the thin moustache and full beard look, he never looked so comfortable and angry as he did with a bold full goatee.
Alexi Lalas
When the USA hosted the 1994 World Cup a nation was introduced to soccer. The conduit for the beautiful game was the hideous facial hair of American defender Alexi Lalas. "This is what soccer is," Lalas' goatee seemed to exclaim. "Trust me, you'll love it in 20 years."
Mark McGwire
Mark McGwire thrust himself into the hearts and minds of the general public in 1998 with the great home run race against Sammy Sosa. Sporting a goatee that looked like a carbon of the one on Patron Saint Stone Cold, McGwire closed out the decade strongly reinforcing that the 90s unequivocally belonged to the goatee.