Football players and hockey players are particularly susceptible to injury in the area of the knee, and the typical uniforms for such athletes generally provide pockets in the garments themselves for receiving pads or plates to protect the thigh and sometimes the knee area, and in the case of hockey players the shin area as well.
As separate protective devices leg braces of one kind or another have been proposed, and some prior art configurations are dipicted in the following prior art patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,047 issued in 1974 to Jarrell PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,742,517 issued in 1973 to Bednarczuk et al, and PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,195,024 issued in 1940 to Bullock.
These prior art knee brace devices are not intended to provide protection for either the thigh or the area below the knee, particularly the shin area, nor are these devices particularly well suited for use with a typical football player or hockey player pants garment of the type equipped with pockets to receive protective pads.
The prior art does include some suggestion of a combination knee protector and thigh and/or shin guard protector U.S. Pat. No. 3,259,910 to Daignault being typical, but here again there is no suggestion of how such a protector can be incorporated with or used in conjunction with present day football player and/or hockey player clothing generally.