SEATTLE — Bears quarterback Caleb Williams relented in his confrontation with the NFL over his cleats by wearing an all-black, logo-less pair Monday against the Seahawks.
The league fined Williams a total of $35,823 for wearing Caddix cleats with a noticeable logo in recent games against the Falcons and Patriots because it violated its partnership with Nike, Under Armour and adidas. Players are not allowed to promote any non-partner brands on game days.
Rather than digging in harder, perhaps following former Bears quarterback Jim McMahon’s famous move of writing commissioner Pete Rozelle’s name on his headband after Rozelle fined him for an unauthorized adidas headband, Williams sought to make peace before it turned into an issue in which the league could prevent him from taking the field.
The NFL’s rulebook has a section that says officials can bar a player from playing if they have a uniform violation, and when asked about it leading up to the Seattle game, Bears coach Ben Johnson said he was confident Williams wouldn’t do anything that would hurt the team.
Caddix has seized on the marketing momentum of Williams putting their cleats in the spotlight and bought billboard space in Chicago advertising that it is paying his fines. When a video surfaced of Williams wearing his unmarked cleats in pre-game warmups, the company’s X account posted, “No logo necessary!”
Caddix says roughly 60 players are wearing its cleats this season, and Williams has been adamant about sticking with them because he believes in their claim that they reduce non-contact knee and ankle injuries.
He wore an all-white version of the cleats in the preseason and in his first two games, including when he hurt his hamstring, and the company’s logo didn’t stand out enough to bother the NFL.
Williams does not have an endorsement deal with Caddix or any other brand in order to maintain freedom to wear whatever he pleases. He also has worn Nike and New Balance shoes in his career.
The Bears are unlikely to make any more splashy trades after acquiring defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons — Khalil Mack is still a possibility — but there’s a good chance they’ll get called about backup quarterback Tyson Bagent.
The Ravens lost starter Lamar Jackson, possibly for the season, and backup Tyler Huntley this week and probably don’t want to concede their season at 4-4 in the wide-open AFC North. Plus, former Bears assistant Declan Doyle is their offensive coordinator.
Simmons started for the Bears in his debut, but his old team hasn’t forgotten him. Several Titans defenders wore red arm sleeves Sunday against the Bengals in their first game without him — a nod to Simmons’ trademark.
“We just wanted to let Jeff know we’re thinking of him and we love him,” defensive end Solomon Thomas said. “He was an unbelievable leader... I've never seen a player of his caliber work the way he works.
"When someone like that leaves your room, you can’t just move on from it. We wanted to show him how much he means to us.”
Bears rookie cornerback Malik Muhammad, who has developed into a starter, was out with toe injury. It was his first missed game.
