Tennessee Titans linebacker Avery Williamson planned to wear commemorative cleats on Sunday during the Titans’ season opener to honor the 15-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
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Williamson had planned to wear the special red, white and blue Nike cleats, which he had customized by a Lexington, Kentucky shop that airbrushed “Never Forget” and 9/11 on the backs of each shoe, with the 11 representing the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, until he heard from the National Football League, reports the New York Post.
“I don’t want to draw negative attention, so I’m just going to focus on playing the game”, Williamson told The Tennessean’s Jason Wolf on Friday. Now the Vikings have traded for Sam Bradford, but in week one they’ll be starting longtime backup Shaun Hill instead – even as they rely primarily on star running back Adrian Peterson. “If that’s the way he wants to express himself, that’s the way he’s doing it”.
The league mandates that teammates must wear shoes that share a color scheme.
“We want him to wear the cleats and we’ll pay the fine”, Colligan said. “Enough is enough! The NFL is out-of-bounds on this”, Nunziato said.
The left cleat says 9-11-01, with the 11 in the outline of the Twin Towers, while the right one says Never Forget.
“The PAPD is the police department that has always patrolled the World Trade Center complex”.
Williamson’s star-spangled blue cleats with red- and white-striped Nike swooshes were airbrushed by True Blue Customs in Lexington, Ky.
“I’m going to try to get a couple of veterans to come to a game”, Williamson said.
Patrick Colligan is the president of the NJSPBA, a law enforcement officers’ union which boasts that it represents more than 33,000 people in the state. The NFL told him that if he did, he’d be fined for breaking the uniform rules.
Williamson has since altered his initiative, opting to auction off the 9/11-themed shoes he plans on wearing to the stadium, in addition to a number of other prizes. “I feel like it’s a great cause”.
In August, the Dallas Cowboys’ request to wear a helmet sticker honoring local police was denied.
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And just when you thought they couldn’t get any dumber…they stop a player from wearing patriotic cleats on 9/11.
