Caleb Williams refuses to stop wearing unauthorized cleats despite NFL fine

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has been on a roll since returning from a hamstring injury, putting together back-to-back 300-yard passing games in wins over the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots. But his choice of footwear has landed him in some trouble with the NFL.

Williams was fined for wearing cleats from a brand that doesn’t have a deal with the league, but he has no plans to change. He said this week that he’ll keep wearing them because he believes they help keep him healthy, and he’s got some backup if the fines keep coming.

Williams Fined

The NFL fined Williams $11,941 for displaying an “unauthorized logo” on his cleats during the Bears’ Week 6 win over the Falcons. The cleats are made by Caddix, a company that does not have a partnership with the NFL.

Only Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour have partnerships with the league. If a player chooses to wear a shoe from another brand, the logo has to be covered.

Williams wore the Caddix cleats throughout the preseason and during the first two games of the regular season before missing Weeks 3 through 5 with his hamstring injury. He also wore them in last week’s win over the Patriots, and it’s unclear whether he’ll be fined for that game, too.

The company’s “SmartStuds” technology is designed to flex and release when players cut and pivot, which Caddix says reduces stress on the knees and ankles that is associated with noncontact ACL tears and other injuries. Williams is one of an estimated 40 NFL players wearing the cleats.

‘Huge Into My Body’

Despite the fine, Williams made it clear that he’s sticking with the cleats and has no plans to cover the logo, either.

“[I’m] focused on my health,” Williams said, via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. “I’m focused on being able to be out here for the guys. And if that can give me a small percentage up and it works, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

Williams told ESPN that he doesn’t plan to cover the Caddix logo for the Bears’ next game against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday. He has already appealed his Week 6 fine, according to ESPN, and he doesn’t have a contract with the company.

The quarterback explained that he has been trying to switch to Caddix for about a year, and that his joints have felt better than they did in the cleats he wore before.

“As we’ve known for the past couple of years now, I’m huge into my body,” Williams said. “I’m huge into trying to stay on the field. I’m huge into trying to be healthy. It’s a rough game and things like that. So the cleats, they’ve been great. They’ve been super comfy and they’ve worked.”

“So over the course of a long career or over the course of a long year, when you can take some percentage — it could be one, it could 50, it could be 12, it could be whatever, you know. When you take that percentage off consistently over a period of time, you know, you get to have the chance, a higher chance of being healthy,” he added.