Why do some players get to touch the water bottles, and some don't?

What?

I don't think it's a rule or anything.

Maybe some of those guys are all taped up and they can't grip it, or they just don't want too.

Or some don't want to get their hands wet.

In conclusion, I never thought about it and don't know...

NFL( national felons league)... They do not want to leave their fingerprints.. and I wonder why??? ....... drill sgt.

There is no rule about this. The trainers are there to, among other things, provide hydration or a dry towel available for players especially those coming off the field so they don’t have to waste time looking for one. A trainer holds up the bottle as a player coming out walks by and if the player is thirsty they catch a swig. Honestly it doesn’t get easier than someone putting the drink into your mouth for you. LoL Also it’s easier for them to aim a shot directly into your mouth quickly with the helmet still on. With helmet on and trying to concentrate on other things its easy to squirt yourself in a bar of the face mask splitting a stream half up your nose and the other half in the eye. I know it sounds stupid and easy but everything is about efficiency and even a task that shaves a couple seconds of time, hundreds or thousands of times over the course of a three hour game is worth it.

Many times especially during a timeout, you’ll see players grab the bottle from the trainer and nurse on it then toss it back to them since they hang around with a basket to collect them as the timeout ends so players can quickly get back on the field without looking for someone to give it too. It’s not just a pro thing either. Our trainers did that in high school 30 years ago.

That way several players can drink from the same bottle.

On the Pat McAfee show I remember Pat and AJ Hawk talking about this.

They both say it is personal preference. Some guys just want a squirt in the mouth, some want to hold the bottle. Typically, the bottle holders want more than a single swig.

They did say it could be an ego thing as well, like they are too good to hold a bottle, but that was mostly/entirely in jest.

If they left prints, the parole board would learn who took their ankle monitor off.