NFL Fines Players For Wearing Patriotic 9/11 Cleats, Sitting For The National Anthem Still Okay

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Three NFL players wore patriotic 9/11 remembrance-themed cleats on Sunday, and now the league is fining each of them around $6,000.

Avery Williamson, Victor Cruz, and Odell Beckham Jr. all donned the apparently egregious footwear on Sunday despite a preemptive warning from the NFL. The New York and New Jersey police associations both volunteered to pay the fines when they heard about them, however. The support from these organizations made Williamson decide that he absolutely had to go through with wearing the cleats, according to the Tennessean.

“I just felt like I got so much support across the country, and especially when the New York and New Jersey police unions said that they would pay my fine, that really meant a lot, so I felt like if I didn’t wear them, I just wouldn’t have felt good about it. I felt like I had to do that, just for myself and to represent the people that were lost and the people that do their jobs every day to protect us. I feel like it was just a duty.”

On top of the support, Williamson will auction off the cleats and donate the proceeds to Operation Warrior Wishes, according to Daily Wire.

Glad to see the athletes not only refusing to back down from the NFL, but turning it into something positive for the organizations they were supporting.

It’s a heartwarming takeaway from an otherwise FUBAR situation. Roger Goodell’s reasoning here is unfathomable. I would pay to see him attempt to explain why sitting during the national anthem is okay, but showing pride in our country and support for our fallen heroes on the anniversary of America’s greatest tragedy is a no-go. Someone stick a mic in his face ASAP.

Fire Roger Goodell.

[via Tennessean]

Image via YouTube

  1. GeorgeH31

    It’s funny how the NFL logo is an American flag yet players disrespect it.

    8 years ago at 5:01 pm
    1. BrockTurner

      It’s funny how i’m an elite athlete with street cred and get no respect

      8 years ago at 5:12 pm
      1. GeorgeH31

        Honestly dude do you even know what happens to a girl when she gets raped? It’s fucked up honestly I wish it on no girl at all, especially the psychological side effects. You are the biggest piece of shit. This is a website for fraternity guys who are already under the gun for this kind of shit posting and what the “culture” people think we are. Thanks for being apart of the problem you fuck stick.

        8 years ago at 6:09 pm
  2. Steroid are frat

    Liberals don’t watch football why are they trying to appeal to them

    8 years ago at 5:24 pm
  3. WahooSD

    NFL does anything for money. Honestly we are all witnessing the transformation of Colin Kaepernick into a radical terrorist. First sitting for the flag. Next letting his hair grow out to disgustingly 70s proportions. How much farther can this go? Is he being monitored by the FBI yet? How does he get to games, I thought the no-fly-list was still effective. I’m seriously concerned for the safety of people in San Fransisco. I mean sure, the sub-par O-line of the 49ers let him get hit in the head a few too many times but this gone completely too far. As a citizen of this wonderful country I am voicing my concern. Kaeps been down hill since the lights went out in the Super Bowl. Lord knows what’s next

    8 years ago at 5:26 pm
  4. Carl_Speckler

    I love read more reliable sites than this one that the players aren’t being fined.

    8 years ago at 5:33 pm
  5. Fratman begins

    And they wouldn’t let the Dallas Cowboys wear vinyls on their helmets that were dedicated to the officers that were killed in Dallas a few months ago. Fuck the NFL.

    8 years ago at 6:30 pm
  6. PillaryClinton

    What do you expect from the same league that let’s you hit a woman but not a blunt?

    8 years ago at 7:18 pm
  7. FrattyStafford

    Let us not forget that the Police groups that would be paying the fines are taxpayer funded. I respect them offering to pay the fine, and the players for doing this, but I hope it doesn’t come down to the police actually paying.

    8 years ago at 7:41 pm
    1. Pauleyk

      It was the unions paying the fines, coming from union dues, not taxpayer money.

      8 years ago at 5:32 am
  8. Abe_Froman

    This non-profit organization also suspended a player eight times longer for smoking pot than beating his wife.

    8 years ago at 8:15 pm