In the tradition of hard-hitting sports journalism, we bring you news of Keaton Parks's hair.
The midfielder isn't just a lock in the New York City FC Starting XI and a new father, he's now a style icon. Recently, we noticed that the 25-year-old changed his look, trading in his traditional tightly-cropped cut for something a little more wild in the back.
In other words, Keaton now rocks a mullet.
We had the chance to ask him about it in the postgame press conference after New York City drew Atlanta United 2-2 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Keaton Parks | Matchday 24 Postgame Press Conference
"It's still growing in a bit," Parks said. "I'm seeing what I can pull off here. A lot of people say it fits me with being a Texan and all. So, we'll see how crazy this gets."
We're hoping it gets much, much crazier. New York City players regularly pull out the peroxide to bleach their hair to a blinding platinum, but the cuts usually remain tightly trimmed. There are players on the team with long or long-ish hair – Talles Magno, Birk Risa, Justin Haak, and Tayvon Gray come to mind. But few have made the leap from short to shaggy.
While the mullet is as old as humans wanting to look amazing, the name dates only to 1994. That's when the Beastie Boys released Ill Communication, which included the song "Mullet Head." According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it's the earliest known usage of the word.
The Parks mullet is growing in nicely. We will continue to track its development, and will update this post as new information becomes available.
