The ‘My Cause My Cleats’ weekend provides a unique opportunity for teams to make a statement about the causes they care about.
It transcends wins and losses, and is much bigger than the NFL picks, the spreads, the lines, the over/unders, or anything in that regard. (NFL Picks Against the Spread can be found in MyBookie).
However this is still an opportunity that’s definitely creating a lot of buzz, and because the approach is so personal in nature, allowing players to wear cleats that make a particular statement rather than sticking with the specific concept set forth by their team, there’s a lot of variety represented on the field.
The Tennessee Titans and the Cleveland Browns were not so lucky, having been on a Bye during the ‘My Cause My Cleats’ week. Initially, it looked like the Titans wouldn’t be able to wear their special shoes beyond the Sunday warm-ups.
Permission to wear their individualized cleats was not granted when they returned to action against Denver at Nissan Stadium.
However, it didn’t take long for the NFL to reverse this decision.
By Monday, Natalie Ravitz (NFL Senior Vice President of Communications) had come out and revealed the NFL’s new stance on the issue. Both the Titans and the Browns had been granted permission to participate in ‘My Cause My Cleats’ in Week 14.
There was a lot of interest in the ‘My Cause My Cleats’ weekend amongst the Titans. Two players in particular, Delanie Walker and Jason McCourty, were dead set on wearing their special cleats.
Jason has a charity called ‘Tackle Sickle Cell’ that he runs with his twin brother Devin McCourty, who wore his special shoes during New England’s game against the Rams on Sunday.
Even before the decision was reversed, Jason sounded like had already determined he would wear his special cleats regardless. Receiver Andrew Hawkins of the Cleveland Browns said as much. He was sure that players would go ahead and wear their cleats even if the decision was not reversed.
The NFL probably wouldn’t have gone so far as to fine players for disobeying their initial decision by wearing their special cleats. That is the sort of action that would have hurt their public image, especially seeing as the players in question were acting on behalf of a good cause.
The league’s initial stance most likely caused a few problems, though.
While players like McCourty might be more than ready to show off their special cleats, other players probably didn’t bother getting special cleats made because of that first decision. Titans Linebacker Brian Orakpo would have loved to put his support for Leukemia and Lymphoma charities on display; however, it is probably too late for him to do it in time for the game.
The Browns as a whole didn’t have enough time to choose cleats and have them made by Sunday because all signs pointed towards the NFL sticking to their gun
Players have previously worn special cleats without first acquiring permission from the NFL, and didn’t receive a fine, such as Avery Williamson who was honoring the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.