Interesting. I asked a friend who is a football freak why the players wore those thin bands around their biceps/elbows etc. He said that at one time they thought the had a purpose, but they really do not and thus became just a fad/trendy thing. Kind of like the black stripes under eyes. Serves no purpose but intimidation or a time honored trend.
So, with that being said, I do not think it served a real physical purpose, and I never noticed the red area where it was removed. So what was it? Did it have to do with sex play or role playing? Part of a uniform (looking?)?