Amid growing concerns surrounding player safety, the Glazers have now made their voices heard and have asked for more protective gear.

Benjamin Sesko’s shin injury, caused by a collision with the advertising hoardings against Liverpool, saw him miss the entirety of pre-season.

It raised wider concerns around player safety in football games, specifically at Old Trafford, and played a role in changes to the space around the pitch at the stadium over the course of the summer.

The trend, of increasing concern around player safety, has not just been present in football, though, with safety in the NFL also at the centre of debate.

New details have now emerged on The Glazers’ moves to create a custom glove for quarterback Baker Mayfield, who plays for their NFL franchise, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

According to reports from journalist Greg Auman, the Buccaneers initially approached Nike, who had made a custom protective glove for baseball star Mike Trout.

The design was not tailored to protect Mayfield’s thumb, which forced the organization to explore alternative options.

That search led them to the Tampa Bay Rays, the city’s Major League Baseball side, who were in the middle of their own path to success.

Despite a busy schedule, the Rays sent a member of their equipment team to meet Mayfield at the Buccaneers’ facility and to help him create a glove that met his needs.

The collaboration did not end there, either, with the Rays bringing three additional custom gloves for Baker Mayfield.

This story highlights the close relationship between Tampa Bay’s sporting franchises, with the Rays going out of their way to help a fellow team protect one of their star players.

Whilst these circumstances differ from Sesko’s injury at Manchester United, the underlying principle remains to be seen: protecting athletes is vital to ensuring they can perform at their best.

For the Glazers, initially reaching out to Nike and then contacting the Rays show how their creative efforts can lead to useful solutions, even if those solutions require the thinking of more than one sport.

Cool backstory on Baker Mayfield’s new glove — Bucs reached out to Nike, who had made a custom protective glove for Mike Trout, but that wasn’t thumb-specific. That led them to the Rays, who (in the midst of pennant push) sent an equipment staffer over to Bucs facility, met with…

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) October 23, 2026