San Francisco 49ers star quarterback and controversy magnet Colin Kaepernick is making headlines again, incurring a nice $10,000 fine from the NFL.
His alleged offense? Wearing non-Bose headphones during a post-game press conference Sunday, violating the league's big licensing deal! OMG!
Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers has caused controversy before, but for wearing the wrong brand of headphones?
Because of the NFL and Bose joining forces, players can't promote competing products, like Beats by Dre, on the field or during official press conferences.
The 26-year-old, who has an endorsement deal with Beats by Dre, says he wore its bright pink headphones in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Sunday.
He also has an endorsement deal with that product, and appears in a prominent TV advertising campaign for it, wearing the Beats to block out the haters.
Kaepernick, shown wearing the offending item above, addressed the fine Thursday, Instagramming a screen grab of ESPN's article about his $10,000 fine.
"I support breast cancer awareness!" he wrote. "My grandma is a survivor! ……. *shrugs* some things are not important! #IDontGetTired #WhoDoYouLove #Se7enPounds"
When Kaepernick was asked by reporters yesterday if the Bose competitor would be paying the fine on his behalf, he replied, "We'll let that be unanswered."
Per ESPN, the NFL doesn't allow fines to be paid by anyone but the person fined. Of course, they could also give Kaepernick a bonus of some sort to make up for it.
The NFL said in a statement that it defends its "longstanding policies that prohibit branded exposure on-field or during interviews unless authorized by the league."
"These policies date back to the early 1990s and continue today. They are the NFL's policies, not one of the league's sponsors, Bose in this case."
"Bose is not involved in the enforcement of our policies."
Good to know, NFL.
Lance Armstrong denied it and denied it, but he eventually came clean: yes, he cheated to win every Tour de France.
It's a far cry from the Ray Rice video or the Adrian Peterson child abuse scandal, but the NFL needs all the good PR it can get these days, and this?
Not that.
A spokesperson for Beats weighed in on the fine, saying that athletes like Kaepernick "have written Beats into their DNA as part of the pre-game ritual."
"Music can have a significant positive effect on an athlete's focus and mental preparedness and has become as important to performance as any other piece of equipment."
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