{"id":1788,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/1788","headline":"Caleb Williams blacks out cleat logo to end NFL fine saga","dek":"The Bears quarterback had faced mounting fines for wearing Caddix cleats with a visible logo during the team's win over the Seahawks.","body":"Caleb Williams showed up Monday night in all-black Caddix cleats with the logo blacked out, quietly ending a dispute that had been building for weeks. The NFL had fined Williams for wearing cleats bearing an \"unauthorized logo,\" first $11,941 after the Week 6 game against the Falcons, then $23,882 after Week 7 against the Patriots, doubling the penalty.\n\nWilliams had previously said he intended to keep wearing the cleats as is, citing safety considerations, even as the fines climbed toward $12,000 a week. Unlike most NFL players who wear Caddix footwear and simply tape over the markings, Williams had declined to cover them up.\n\nThat changed Monday. Williams debuted the logo-less cleats on his way to leading the Bears over the Seattle Seahawks. Asked afterward why he switched, Williams said it was simply to ease the distraction. \"Just to calm things down,\" he said. \"It was a big week and I'm not here to create any B.S. towards the team, I wanna keep that to a minimum from my side.\"\n\nThe move brings a quiet resolution to a storyline that had shadowed the Bears' past two weeks, even as Williams did not rule out revisiting the issue down the line.","published_at":"2026-11-03T23:33:12.288917+00:00","source_count":4,"written_from":[{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Bears' Williams dims controversy surrounding cleats with all-black custom pair","url":"https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/50367609/chicago-bears-williams-dims-controversy-surrounding-cleats-all-black-custom-pair"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Bears QB Caleb Williams blacks out logo on cleats, says he wants 'to calm things down' after risking $12,000 in NFL fines","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/bears-qb-caleb-williams-blacks-out-logo-on-cleats-says-he-wants-to-calm-things-down-after-risking-12000-in-nfl-fines-072404682.html"},{"outlet":"Pro Football Talk","publisher":"NBC Sports","title":"The NFL, Caleb Williams shoe dispute takes center stage on Monday night","url":"https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/the-nfl-caleb-williams-shoe-dispute-takes-center-stage-on-monday-night"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Bears’ Caleb Williams draws Jim McMahon comparison for ‘iconoclastic actions’ on illegal cleats","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/bears-caleb-williams-draws-jim-062806983.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Caleb Williams cleats controversy, explained: Why Bears QB defied NFL after fine over Caddix brand","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/caleb-williams-cleats-controversy-explained-083001770.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Caleb Williams won't stop wearing Caddix cleats. Why Bears QB continues to be fined","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/caleb-williams-wont-stop-wearing-120500365.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Here’s Why The NFL Is Fining Players For Caddix Cleats","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/why-nfl-fining-players-caddix-152746665.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Bears QB Caleb Williams taking a stand with Caddix cleats","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/bears-qb-caleb-williams-taking-172030903.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"New Report Reveals Nearly 100 NFL Players Wearing the Cleats That Cost Caleb Williams $36,000","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/report-reveals-nearly-100-nfl-180915238.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"The NFL, Caleb Williams shoe dispute takes center stage on Monday night","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nfl-caleb-williams-shoe-dispute-222300765.html"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Cleats, controversy and the choice of Bears QB Caleb Williams","url":"https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/50320658/caddix-shoes-bears-caleb-williams-fines"},{"outlet":"Front Office Sports","publisher":"Front Office Sports","title":"Caleb Williams Wears Cleats With No Visible Logos After NFL Fines","url":"https://frontofficesports.com/article/caleb-williams-wears-cleats-with-no-visible-logos-after-nfl-fines/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Caleb Williams Wears Cleats With No Visible Logos After NFL Fines","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/caleb-williams-wears-cleats-no-142445873.html"}],"image":{"url":"https://nbcsports.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b7e7803/2147483647/strip/false/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/1920x1080!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhdliveextra-a.akamaihd.net%2FHD%2Fimage_sports%2FNBCU_Sports_Group_-_nbcsports%2F223%2F443%2Fnbc_pftpm_calebwilliams_261031.jpg","credit":"Pro Football Talk","width":1920},"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}