As ESPN reports, Cleveland Browns wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry were told by the NFL to change their cleats at halftime during Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos or they would not be allowed to play in the second half.
Beckham was wearing white Joker-inspired cleats, while Landry was wearing gold and orange. According to the NFL rulebook, “a player may wear shoes that are black, white or any constitutional team color, or any combination of black, white and a constitutional team color.”
WR Odell Beckham JR honoring Freddie Kitchens with his cleats pic.twitter.com/whUgvs9To0
— Monte‼️❄️ (@MonteMacy) November 3, 2019
The NFL has told Browns WRs Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr that they will be disqualified from the game against the Broncos unless they change their cleats at halftime. Crazy. pic.twitter.com/WRVqGxwrfS
— HefferBrew (@hefferbrew) November 3, 2019
Both players changed their cleats for the second half, but after the game, Landry said he was confused because his had already been cleared by the league. “I don’t really understand,” he told reporters. “When we went up to the Nike headquarters to start game-planning for throughout the season, and our uniforms and things like that, these things get cleared by the league before Nike can start processing the shoe. So Nike processed the shoe and thinking, I guess, they got the green light from the NFL, so I didn’t see it as being a problem or a distraction to anybody. I’m just trying to play football.”
Beckham, meanwhile, cited the team’s last-minute decision to wear brown-colored uniforms instead of whites as the reason for his cleats issue. “Obviously, you guys know I have a deal with Nike. … the offseason, before the season even starts in June and July, we sit down, we met about the cleats, all right this is it,” he said. “Bam. This is the jersey you’re going to wear, cool. They literally switched the jersey. The cleats that I had was not for that jersey, we were supposed to wear white. The cleats were white.”
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