Odell Beckham Jr. Sets Record Straight On Why He Wore ‘Joker’-Themed Cleats During A Game
Odell Beckham Jr. offered a curious explanation as to why he wore “Joker” cleats during Sunday’s (November 3) game.
According to ESPN’s Jake Trotter, Beckham carefully plans his cleats with his Nike reps to coordinate with whatever jersey the team will wear in a given week. The jersey was changed, and Beckham had limited cleat options.
“On Wednesday or Thursday, we switched jerseys from the white to the all brown,” OBJ said. “So, I had no cleats left to wear. None that I could’ve worn. And the black ones that I was wearing for the rest of the game, for some reason, was just hurting my feet. So I went to the ones that was most comfortable. I was pretty sure that they changed the rule and cleats wasn’t a big deal. It’s only a big deal to people that are talking about it.”
The league allows players to wear custom cleats during warmups, and pink cleats during games in October for Breast Cancer Awareness month.
But outside of that, players’ cleats are required to be the same color as their teams'. According to Rule 5:
“Shoes must be of standard football design, including “sneaker” type shoes such as basketball shoes, cross-training shoes, etc. League-approved tri-colored shoes are permitted with black, white, and one team color. Each team must select a dominant color for its shoes, either black or white (with shoelace color conforming to the dominant color of the tongue area of the manufacturer’s shoe).”
This isn’t the first time OBJ has run afoul of the NFL’s uniform police.
He was admonished after wearing a very expensive watch during a game earlier this season and was fined $14,000 for violating the league’s uniform rules with his football pants in a game against the Seattle Seahawks.
