SEATTLE -- Caleb Williams quieted the controversy around his in-game footwear when he sported an all-black pair of Caddix cleats during the Chicago Bears' 34-17 win over the Seattle Seahawks on "Monday Night Football."
The NFL fined Williams a total of $35,823 for wearing cleats with an "unauthorized logo" in Weeks 6 and 7, which Caddix CEO Jack Rasmussen said the company will pay. Only Nike, Adidas and Under Armour have partnerships with the NFL.
The quarterback said he's been wearing Caddix cleats since the preseason but was not fined outside of recently because he wore an all-white version that did not clearly show the logo.
Last week, Williams told ESPN that he did not plan to cover up the logo on his cleats and will keep wearing the shoe in games. As he came out for warmups at Lumen Field in Seattle, the quarterback sported matte black cleats that did not show the Caddix logo, a decision he said he made to eliminate potential distractions around the team.
"Just to calm things down," Williams said. "It was a big week and not here to create any B.S. towards the team. I want to keep that to a minimum from my side. Obviously I get a lot of media and so just trying to minimize that as much as possible."
NFL officials have the ability to bar a player from playing if they have a uniform violation, which coach Ben Johnson did not believe would be the case for Williams.
"He's all about the team and I know he's not going to hurt the team," Johnson said last Saturday.
