For the second straight season, the NFL is allowing players across the league to wear whatever cleats they want, without risk of being fined, as part of their "My Cause, My Cleats" initiative. In Week 13, players will adorn colorful and/or custom cleats that represent organizations or charities that they work with, or simply cleats that send a message for something they are passionate about.
Several special edition cleats have already been revealed heading into this weekend's slate of games, including the cleats for Tennessee Titans wide receiver Rishard Matthews who will be honoring Colin Kaepernick this Sunday.
Matthews took to instagram today to show off the custom spikes along with a caption that reads,
"I dont have a foundation so i have chosen to support my brother@kaepernick7 foundation @yourrightscamp for #MyCauseMyCleats He has paid the ultimate sacrifice in order to bring true everyday issues to light. Please follow the page & go to the website to learn more. We Should ALL Know Our Rights & Be Able to Express Them Freely. Thanks again@solesbysir you continue to impress ✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾"
Back in October, Matthews posted a since-deleted tweet that said he would be done playing football if the league forced him to stand for the national anthem.
Prior to that tweet, Matthews said on ESPN's NFL Live he planned on kneeling during the anthem until President Trump apologized for attacking players who protested,
"I plan to kneel until the president apologizes for the comments that he made, because I felt like those were very disrespectful comments that he made. The league is made up of, I think, ... over 70 percent African-Americans, so the people that would be kneeling for this cause would be African-Americans.
"To keep it honest, he was calling a lot of us, and I feel that he was calling myself, an S.O.B., and that's not OK and very disrespectful. So I plan to kneel until the president apologizes."
The Tennessee Titans, who lead the AFC South with a 7-4 record, will host the Houston Texans at Nissan Stadium this Sunday. Look for the Kaepernick cleats on the feet of #18.
You can check out Matthews' Kaepernick-inspired cleats and his message below.