In an continuing effort to allow players to greater express their personality, the NFL is relaxing its strict guidelines on footwear.
Players will be allowed to wear more personalized cleats for pre-game prior to warm-ups and will have greater flexibility on cleat color worn during the game, according to a memo sent out by the league on Monday to head coaches and equipment managers and obtained by ESPN.
During pregame warm-ups, players can wear any design they want, so long as it doesn't depict commercialized or trademarked logos, other than the league-approved footwear brands (Nike, Under Armour and Adidas). The cleats also can't have anything that would be deemed offensive or express political views.
The league previously fined players who wore non-conforming cleats in pregame. New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was most famously fined $18,000 last season for wearing cleats honoring the late broadcaster Craig Sager before the team's game against the Detroit Lions. Those cleats would be permitted under the new policy.
Players were also subject to fines if they wore cleats that their team didn't declare as the dominant footwear color. This season, according to the memo, teams don't have to make such declaration and players can wear solid black, solid white or a secondary team color.
The NFL -- sometimes called the "No Fun League" by critics -- relaxed its rules for a week in 2016, allowing players to design their own cleats for a charity of their choice in Week 13.
