NFL forces Antonio Brown to remove Muhammad Ali cleats
The NFL took another stand against custom cleats on Sunday by forcing Antonio Brown into a change of footwear.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ star receiver wore custom tweets depicting Muhammad Ali, but NFL senior vice president of officiating Dean Blandino confirmed that he was told to remove them and wear a standard Nike shoe, via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.
You can have a glimpse of the footwear Brown originally wore here:
.@AntonioBrown's cleats pay homage to Muhammad Ali. pic.twitter.com/8hJPLXkwvy
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) October 9, 2016
This is the fourth time an NFL uniform inspector has forced Brown to change his shoes this season. The first two times, it was over these cleats. Last week, he was made to remove these shoes that paid tribute to Arnold Palmer. Brown would have been forced to sit out the remainder of the game had he refused to change his shoes in all four instances.