As we have found out on several occasions, the NFL doesn’t play around when it comes to players deviating from the suggested uniform.
DeAngelo Williams was not allowed to wear pink all season to honor his late mother, who passed away from breast cancer. Martellus Bennett was fined because he wore black shoes instead of ones that are predominantly white and Cam Heyward had to cough up money for writing a tribute to his father on his eye black. This week, it was Josh Norman who heard from the league.
Norman posted the above photo to his Twitter account, showing a letter he received indicating he is being fined $5,000 for wearing the pictured shoes during last weekend’s game. However, it wasn’t the color of shoes that caught the NFL’s attention.
Norman said the NFL's issue was not the color of the cleats but the fact that it included words on them: proud, brave.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) November 12, 2015
The words are in reference to Norman’s grandfather, a Korean War veteran. The Panther’s cornerback is understandably very proud of his grandfather and added this caption along with the photo:
Grandpa was A SEARGANT in the Korean war. He saw his whole company blowed up. He was a gunner the only one to survived! If it was no him then there would be no Me. So Regardless of this piece of paper. In His HONOR I salute Our TROOPS & VETERANS #PROUDBRAVE
Regardless of the player’s intent, the NFL has very strict rules pertaining to uniforms, which aren’t going to change anytime soon. For some, the fine is worth statement being made, more than once in some cases. Heyward actually made same tribute to his father on his eye black again, despite being fined earlier in the season. Bennett, on the other hand, contemplated wearing the black shoes again because of the comfort they provided to his ailing foot, before ultimately thinking about his daughter’s future college tuition.
Photo via: Twitter/J_No24
