The month of October holds significance for supporters of Breast Cancer awareness and Domestic Violence awareness. Those who are affected or know someone who has been affected usually show their support by attending community events and making donations. Another common way to show your support is by wearing pink to represent Breast Cancer or purple to represent Domestic Violence.
It was somewhat of a shock to hear that two NFL players were recently fined with ‘uniform violations’ for attempting to show their support for these causes while on the playing field. “Running back DeAngelo Williams received a first-offense uniform violation of $5,787 for wearing “Find the Cure” in his eye black in honor of breast cancer awareness.” Deangelo Williams had previously requested to wear breast cancer accessories with his uniform to honor his mother who passed away from the illness.
William’s teammate William Gay, whose mother was shot and killed by his stepfather when Gay was 7, has publicly supported the cause for years and was also fined the same amount for violating NFL policies. It seems to be is okay for the players to show their support for these causes as long as the merchandise is provided from the NFL. The league has allowed players to wear pink cleats and use pink towels to support breast cancer.
The issue is somewhat controversial considering the players are being fined thousands of dollars for wanting to represent important causes that the NFL itself also supports. It all comes down to playing by and abiding the NFL’s strict rules and policies. Gay and Williams did not appeal the fines, but they are hoping that something positive comes out of this incident, and their fines can be donated to the charities that they were supporting in the first place.
Read more about this and watch the news report here: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13991743/nfl-fines-pittsburgh-steelers-deangelo-williams-william-gay-uniform-violations
