Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown had revealed plans earlier this week to wear cleats honoring the late great Muhammad Ali during today’s game against the New York Jets, and for the longest time it seemed that there wouldn’t be any issues.
Last week, the same designer who crafted today’s cleats also made a pair for Brown honoring the late Arnold Palmer, and the NFL let him wear the cleats without incident. However, today was a different story.
Evan Washburn of CBS reported during the game that Brown would have to change the cleats or otherwise he wouldn’t be able to play in today’s game. He ended up changing the cleats to an approved pair so he could play today, though he was allowed to wear Palmer cleats last week. He was also forced to change his cleats during halftime of the Steelers Week 2 game against Cincinnati and was fined for illegal cleats during the Steelers Week 1 game against Washington.
Brown has been vocal in calling out the NFL’s fines for not only his illegal cleats, but excessive celebration fouls. He believes, as do many NFL fans, that the rules aren’t very clear. Brown scored a TD today, and his celebration was fairly muted.
But when it comes to his cleats, he can apparently honor Arnold Palmer but can’t honor Muhammad Ali.
