Antonio Brown Claims NFL Referees Threatened to Remove Him From Game Over Custom Cleats

Antonio Brown claims NFL referees told him he was going to be forced to sit out of the second half of a game on Sunday if he wore custom cleats.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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During the Steelers game against the Eagles on Sunday afternoon, Antonio Brown wore a pair of custom cleats that featured his kids’ faces on them. He shared a photo of the cleats on Twitter a short time before the game kicked off:

It seems the NFL wasn’t on board with Brown’s decision to wear the cleats, though. While making his weekly radio appearance on WDVE on Wednesday, Brown—who was fined after Week 1 of the 2016-17 NFL season for wearing custom blue cleats with his jersey number on the side—revealed that the referees who were officiating Sunday’s game told him that he couldn’t wear his custom cleats for the second half of the game after realizing he had worn them during the first half. If he did, he would be forced to sit on the sidelines. Brown eventually agreed to change his cleats so that he could get back on the field with his team, but it doesn’t sound like he was real happy about being told to do it.

In the photo below, you can see the cleats Brown wore during the second half of the game, which are much different than the ones in the photo at the top:

Antonio Browns catches a pass during a game against the Eagles.

The NFL hasn’t explained why they reportedly asked Brown to change his cleats instead of simply issuing him another fine. But through the first three weeks of the season, it’s clear the NFL does not want players wearing any cleats other than standard cleats for games—especially not the Yeezy cleats. However, it's also clear that league disapproval will not stop guys like Brown from trying to get away with custom cleats whenever they can.

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