@Saints
The Grinch may eventually steal some of Alvin Kamara’s Christmas money, but the Grinch did not interfere with Kamara’s ability to celebrate the season.
Considering previous reports of NFL players being instructed to remove non-conforming shoes, some wonder why the league did not instruct Kamara to change his green and red Christmas boots during Friday’s six-day touchdown against the Vikings. According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the rules require removal or the threat of removal only when breaching the equipment presents a security risk.
If helmets, thigh guards, knee pads, shoulder pads, eye guards and / or masks do not comply with the equipment rules, the player will be removed from the game until the situation is corrected. For other uniform violations, the rules state that employees will not intervene and that the solution will come from the standard disciplinary process.
As for football boots, a question of brand (for example, if the shoe bears the logo of a company that has not paid for the privilege of equipping NFL players) can also lead to a directive to change the shoes.
Kamara’s shoes did not pose a safety or brand problem. Thus, he was allowed to use them, even though he eventually made a contribution to the NFL Human Fund.
It all makes sense, but unless the rule changes between 2019 and 2020, the handling of Kamara cleats conflicts with the handling of the league of non-conforming shoes won in 2019 by Browns recipients, Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry. Beckham and Landry were instructed to switch to boots accordingly early in the second half. Kamara was allowed to wear shoes that did jingle jangle jingle throughout the game.
In the absence of a rule change, Beckham’s earlier claim that a different standard applies to him has some merit. Despite everything, Kamara had to wear the shoes of his choice on Friday – and the result was certainly worth it, whatever the fine.