NFL uniform violations usually fly under the radar in the news, but an infraction involving Jalen Hurts this week raised eyebrows for a bizarre reason.
The NFL fined the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback $5,628 for a uniform and equipment violation in last Sunday’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hurts wore shoes that were mismatched shades of green.
NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported Hurts got fined for having one shoe’s color not matching one of the Eagles’ “Constitutional team colors.”
That news item would normally go unnoticed even in the Philadelphia media, but Hurts’ incident is hilariously notable because just days earlier, the official NFL X account posted a photo of Hurts wearing the shoes, appearing to celebrate his fashion choice.
The post read, “The Return of Jalen Two Shoes.”
Not surprisingly, the @NFL account deleted the post after the league fined Hurts.
“The NFL tweeting this, fining him for wearing 2 different color shoes & then deleting the original tweet is the most on-brand thing for them ever,” posted Josh Reynolds, host of the Thats Ball Folks podcast.
The situation should at least give hope to all those fans and media who’ve ever joked that NFL stands for “No Fun League.” Apparently, some elements of the league (in this case, social media) were OK with the shoes.
Either way, that fine won’t be coming out of Hurts’ pocket. According to FootwearNews.com, Nike’s Jordan Brand has agreed to pay the fine, saying in a statement, “We’re paying the fine. You can’t ban greatness.”
By the way, uniform violations are far rarer than one would think. According to Spotrac, only three players were fined during the 2023 season for uniform/equipment violations.
[SI.com]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.