William Gay, a cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, is preparing to pay a $5,797 fine this week because he wore purple cleats for a game on Sunday. The unsanctioned footwear was his way to honor his mother, who was murdered by her partner when the future footballer was only eight years old.
The N.F.L., however, was unmoved by Mr. Gay’s very public effort to highlight the dangers of domestic violence. He was out of uniform, period. If you thought Sgt. Emil Foley, the terror in “An Officer and A Gentleman,” was the worst possible stickler for the perfectly shined belt buckle, the N.F.L. is also in the running. The players’ uniforms have to be, well, uniform.
The N.F.L. apparently has such strict rules about exactly what a player cannot wear on the field that it also fined two other Pittsburgh players for trying to remember their deceased relatives. The two — Cameron Heyward, a defensive end, and DeAngelo Williams, a running back — were adding messages to the streaks of eye black that are supposed to reduce glare. Okay, some players and fans go overboard with so much eye black they look like Alice Cooper. But these were small and tasteful messages that were very hard for anybody but the N.F.L. to see.
Mr. Heyward had the words “Iron” and “Head” on his eye blacks. His father, Craig “Ironhead” Heyward, died of brain cancer. And Mr. Williams, whose mother died of breast cancer, wore eye black with the message “Find the Cure”.
It apparently didn’t matter to the National Football League that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the league does allow pink cleats in October to showcase the need to support this important cause. (The N.F.L. site even sells certified N.F.L. gear with touches of pink during October).
So far, the N.F.L. has not said how they will use the money collected from these players. That should be an easy call. Send this money straight to the worthy organizations that fight cancer and domestic violence.