NFL players are allowed to wear creative cleats during warmups, but when it comes time to take the field for the actual game, the strict NFL uniform standards take effect. Cleats are required to contain a consistent team color for every player.
But for Sunday’s game between the Broncos and Browns, wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry chose to ignore the league’s uniform mandates, wearing custom cleats instead of the typical Browns team cleats.
Beckham, in particular, wore white Joker-themed cleats. Landry’s cleats were gold and orange. The league, though, reportedly went to great lengths to get the two receivers back into compliant footwear.
According to the CBS broadcast, league officials went to the Browns locker room at halftime and informed Beckham and Landry that they had to change their cleats or else they would have been prohibited from playing in the second half.
We don’t know how Beckham and Landry reacted to that directive from the league, but they did take the field in the second half with “compliant” cleats.
In all likelihood, Beckham and Landry were prepared for a fine and wore the cleats because they liked them. But the possibility of an ejection was spelled out in the league’s uniform guidelines:
For violation of this Section 4 discovered during pregame warm-ups or at other times prior to the game, player will be advised to make appropriate correction; if violation is not corrected, player will not be permitted to enter the game.
Even if the league’s uniform rules are needlessly strict, this seemed like an easily avoidable distraction. They had to know that the best-case scenario was a full game in those cleats and a hefty fine. Instead, they reportedly were threatened with an ejection over their footwear.
That was really not what the Browns needed in an already-disappointing season.
