In a move that could only come from the NFL offices, Carolina Panthers star Josh Norman has been fined $5,000 for honoring members of the United States armed services on a day designed to do just that, according to ESPN.
Josh Norman fined for honoring the troops on Salute to Service Day
Norman was fined for wearing red, white and blue cleats during the game designed to honor the military.
Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
In Sunday's Salute to Service game against the Green Bay Packers, Norman wore a specially designed pair of red, white and blue cleats that were emblazoned with the words "proud" and "brave." However, since the Panthers don't wear red, white and blue cleats, they were a violation of the league's uniform policy.
That's the same policy that saw Cam Heyward fined for putting a tribute to his late father on his eye black, and told DeAngelo Williams that he had to stop wearing pink on Nov. 1, even though his mother died of breast cancer. A third members of the Steelers, William Gay, was fined for wearing purple cleats to honor domestic violence victims, including his mother.
Norman fully expected the fine when he donned the new shoes.
“Price we pay for freedom and I’ll take that any day,” Norman told the Charlotte Observer. “Big ups to them and everything they do for our country.”
Norman will appeal the fine, according to the report. He said that he appeals everything regardless of what it is.
The fine comes one week after a Senate investigation found that 18 NFL teams had taken $6 million from various divisions of the armed services, much of which went for “paid patriotism” events on game days.
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