Everton FC: Tim Howard Doesn't Mind Stripping for Charity Calendar

You know how the saying goes. Tim Howard knows how to put it into practice.

In other words, the American keeper knows he's got it, and he's not afraid to flaunt it.

English Premier League club Everton launched a new calendar this season featuring members of the first-team squad. At first, that sounds tame, but that's not exactly true.

The calendar, which was intended to raise money for charity, was titled 12 Shades of Blue, a subtle hat tip to the wildly popular novel 50 Shades of Grey.

And, well, it's pretty much what it sounds like.

The calendar features Howard, along with Everton teammates Marouane Fellaini and Kevin Mirallas, posing shirtless. The Liverpool Echo reported at the time of release that #12shadesofblue had begun to trend on Twitter.

Howard, 33, previously posed nude (somewhat NSFW) for ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue, so his participation in the 12 Shades of Blue calendar shouldn't have been any surprise.

Here's what he said about it, via the Liverpool Echo:

"

They asked individual players to get involved and obviously we had the opportunity to say yes or no, but most of the players are pretty giving of their time and willing to go a bit beyond their comfort zone, so we said yes.

There was a lot of give and take about what poses we were going to do, and how much we kept on or off ... although mostly it was off!

But really I don’t think it was anything new for us, we spend our lives in the dressing room so it’s kind of normal for us to be walking around like that. I don’t think we were too uncomfortable with it.

"

Howard also joked that some players were more willing than others to take off their clothes. And by that, we figure he means himself. But hey, it's like we said about having it and flaunting it.

Now, if only Liverpool would follow Everton's lead and do a calendar of their own. Brendan Rodgers in a Speedo, anyone?

Follow @MikeCummings37