Why do football players use the black paint under their eyes?

I am just curious about the black paint streaks under the football players eyes. What purpose does it have?Why do football players use the black paint under their eyes?
Apparently American Footballers are known to be a bit clumsy: the black lines are mascara which they tried to apply but missed, mind you I hear that they do apply their lipstick and foundation accurately.Why do football players use the black paint under their eyes?
I remember when I was a kid back in the 1960s, and I asked a college football player the same question. His answer was that when teams lined up on opposite sides of the line of scrimmage, players would look into their opponents' eyes to try to anticipate which direction the next play would go. The eye black would cause the opponents to focus first on the black streaks instead of their eyes.





Today, eye black is just a part of the unofficial uniform, and you will see them with logos, names, Bible verses, just about anything superimposed on them.
When the sun or stadium lights come down out of the sky, it reflects off of the players' upper cheeks right below the eyes and causes glare that reduces their visual acuity. So, players of outdoor sports use eye black to reduce that glare.





But, some players wear it for looks. Ray Lewis comes to mind. He has the eye black under both eyes and across the bridge of his nose, kind of like Indian war paint. And, Reggie Bush used to wear stick-on eye black patches at USC that had the numbers ';619'; across them (the area code in San Diego where he was from).
keeps light from the sun out of their eyes.





i wear it cuz it makes you look tough and like a football player to intimidate the other team.





also i write things on it like my grandfathers name..stuff like that
To clog the 'sweat glands' under the eye which cause the the entire region around the eye to perspire. Kinda like a cheek 'eyebrow'. Ever get a salt stinger during a play?
Helps to reduce sunglare (and from the lights) I prefer to use the strips that are sold in sporting goods stores as they don't smear and can even be reused to a certain extent.
the black stuff draws the sun to the black stuff and not to the eye
its supposed to prevent the glare from the lights or sun from going into their eyes. but most football players use black strips just for looks.
To advertise.





(i hear it reduces the glare from overhead light as well.)
To cut the glare from the sun and/or the lights so they can see the ball coming looking up.
It reduces sunglare
It absorbs sunlight and reduces glare
To prevent sunglare or glare from the lights.And also looks intimidating
reduces glare
so they know how their wives and girlfriends feel. J/K
it reduces glare from any light