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Antonio Brown to pay tribute to Arnold Palmer with custom cleats (pic)

Jason Rowan
| September 30, 2016

antonio-brown

Antonio Brown will pay tribute to the late Arnold Palmer by wearing custom cleats featuring images of “The King” during Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Heinz Field.

The Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver said it’s important to honor the Latrobe, Penn., native, who passed away Sunday at the age of 87. Brown mentioned he had the honor of meeting the beloved golf icon during a visit to Palmer’s home before training camp this year.

“A guy like Arnold, his legacy and what he meant not only to the world, but to Latrobe, to Pennsylvania, his legacy will live on,” Brown said, via ESPN. “An inspiring guy. I’m glad I got a moment to share with him.”

Brown notes the custom cleats are unlikely to run afoul of the NFL’s ban on wearing “foreign substances on body/uniform.”

The wide receiver was confronted by an NFL official at halftime during last week’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles who told him he wouldn’t be allowed to play if he continued to wear blue cleats with the faces of his four children on them.

Since the Palmer cleats feature the Steelers’ black-and-gold, it shouldn’t be an issue.

Brown earned fines for blue cleats worn in Week 1 as well as a twerking celebration after a touchdown. He mentioned he hasn’t been fined yet for the blue cleats worn last week. Either way, it appears Brown will continue to the practice of donning custom cleats.
“Every week, I’m going to try to keep some motivation or put a picture of somebody that means the most to me or inspires me to keep me encouraged,” Brown said. “I’m definitely going to follow the rules in regards to sticking to the team color.”