Following the Chicago Bears 31-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 6, the NFL slapped quarterback Caleb Williams with a fine of $11,941 for wearing an “unauthorized logo” on his cleats, as the official league-approved shoe brands are strictly Nike, Adidas and Under Armour.
In Week 7, Williams went rogue once again, wearing his clearly preferred brand of Caddix cleats and the NFL followed through with another fine, this time doubling that figure to $23,882.
But this has hardly been some rebellious, defiant act to purposely break the NFL rules and play mind games with the league office.
Williams provided a very logical response as to why he prefers the Caddix brand, and why he will continue to wear the cleats.
Caleb Williams Disobeyed the NFL’s Cleat Rules Again — the Fines Will Keep Adding Up
Per Pro Football Talk, here’s what Williams had to say:
“I’m huge into trying to stay on the field,” Williams said. “I’m huge into trying to be healthy.”
It really doesn’t get any more simple and reasonable than for an NFL player to have a strong desire to stay on the football field and remain healthy, league-approved shoe brands be damned.
“It’s a rough game … So the [Caddix] cleats, they’ve been great. They’ve been super comfy and they’ve worked. They are a science-type of cleat. It’s something that focuses on when you plant on the hard plants on turf or grass, they call them ‘SmartStuds’, and they move when you move in these hard plants. They take tension off of your tendons, your joints and all of that.”
Williams essentially went on to say that this particular brand of cleats, in his opinion, gives him a higher chance of staying healthy throughout the long 17-game season, in addition to the hopes of a deep postseason run for Chicago.
“A bunch of other guys wear them in the league,” Williams continued. “And they’re forward-focused on making sure players stay on the field, and that’s what I’m always focused on.”
This is where it gets interesting, because Williams wasn’t wrong.
Caleb Williams spoke about the cleats he was fined nearly $12,000 for wearing during the Bears Thursday night victory over the Patriots earlier today at Halas Hall.
The cleats, produced by an innovative shoe company known as Caddix, use SmartStuds technology with the intent to… pic.twitter.com/y8pxtwIKqO— WGN TV News (@WGNNews) October 28, 2026
There are a total of 12 NFL players listed on the official Caddix “Athletes” page, including Cooper Kupp, Kyle Juszczyk, Dalton Kincaid, Jalen Ramsey, and Jakobi Myers.
Williams is not among those NFL players listed on the page because he does not (yet) have an official endorsement deal with Caddix.
The Bears quarterback has been wearing the cleats because he likes them, as they apparently suit his level of comfort on the field better than the other options. And apparently Caddix likes Williams too, because the company is already willing to “cover Caleb’s fines.”
Caddix responded Caleb Williams’ $11K NFL fine, saying the Bears QB bought the cleats himself and has no endorsement deal with the brand. The brand will also cover the fine.
📸: Getty via: Linkedin pic.twitter.com/sL3YvwQf8E— Complex Sneakers (@ComplexSneakers) October 26, 2026
Notice the plural use of “fines” in the above post from @ComplexSneakers.
Caddix is seemingly in it for the long haul, knowing full well that the kind of exposure Williams has already generated for the brand likely far outweighs the two fines from the NFL, both of which are being appealed.
But the reason Williams keeps getting dinged up with fines from the league appears to be for a simple reason — he’s failing to cover up the “non-approved” logo.
According to the NFL Operations page, the uniform inspection rules for wearing other brands outside of Nike, Adidas and Under Armour go as follows:
“Only logos or brand names from the league’s official partners can be displayed. Players may wear other brands, as long as they remove or cover the name or logo. For example, NFL compliance vice president Akil Coad said … ‘Who are we to tell them not to wear it? Just don’t show the mark.'”
So, while Caddix CEO Jack Rasmussen has stated he is happy” to cover any further fines Williams gets hit with for wearing the brand, a piece of tape could easily solve this ongoing problem with the NFL.
For now, this is hardly a “problem” for Rasmussen, whose company continues to get more and more attention thanks to these back-to-back fines.
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