Must we talk about that Odell Beckham, Jr. sideline gif? Yes, we must

Cameras caught Odell Beckham, Jr. having an emotional moment on the sidelines with Giants punter Brad Wing.

When the clip of Odell Beckham Jr. crying into a towel with his teammate Brad Wing holding him first hit the internet, the fine folks of Twitter reacted in predictably garbage ways. Which is to say, a lot of tweets calling the players gay, or weak, or emotional, etc. Expressing befuddlement that a man could shed tears, that another man might comfort his friend. A lot of Brokeback Mountain gifs. You get the idea. It was not a good look for any of the trolls involved. However, there was something concerning in the gif, something worth discussing. And that is the return of frosted tips.

OBJ’s bleached locks look is nothing new. According to NJ.com, who provides a complete chronology of Beckham’s hair, the frosted tips first debuted around the 2014 NFL Draft, but they were not nearly as bleached and bright as they would one day (early in the 2015 season) become. They are perhaps at their brightest yet.

These days, OBJ bleaches his hair to an extent it’s hard to call them frosted tips, though he keeps his roots natural. Whether this is a good look is as controversial a subject as his touch down celebrations.

Over to Wing. Brad’s bleached blond hair is a bit of a more intricate matter, on account of the fact Wing is a natural blond. But, as you can see clearly in the clip of him supporting his distraught brother-in-sport, his hair, peaking through his backward cap, has definite and notable highlights. A cursory look at his social media proves this to be indisputable.

Now that we’ve established that both players have frosted locks — two ways, no less — we must discuss what this means. In June, various outlets began reporting on the return of frosted tips as A Look. GQ even ran a feature around that time on “highlights,” which is what we have all collectively agreed to call frosted tips when they look good. (It’s been A Thing in soccer for even longer.)

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And yet, frosted highlights appear to still be largely the domain of the rich and famous: athletes, actors, Instagram celebrities. When, if ever, will we see them on the streets? In offices? Amongst the people? When will the increased presence spill over to the common people?

These are the questions we should be asking around the circulation of the OBJ sideline gif.

Don’t let homophobic reactions distract you from the return of frosted tips.