Pittsburgh Steelers' Cameron Heyward has been fined more than $5,700 for wearing custom eye black that honored his late father, Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, during a Monday game.
Heyward's father, who played in the NFL for 11 years, died of cancer, and
Heyward told ESPN he thought it was appropriate to honor his father's battle in October, the month when NFL players wear pink to support breast cancer awareness.
But the NFL determined that Heyward's eye black, which had "Iron" under one eye and "Head" under the other, violated uniform regulations, and the league levied a $5,787 fine. The defensive end reportedly plans to appeal the ruling.
"To lose a person like that due to cancer, for cancer awareness, I don’t think it should be a big deal at all. It’s unfortunate. Something dear to my heart. I honor my Dad," Heyward said on his website.
"There are a lot of other things we could be worried about," he told ESPN. Guys want to do right by the league. They don't want to upset anybody. I do it to honor somebody, DeAngelo does it to honor somebody, it shouldn't be taken to offense by anybody. We're not trying to gain publicity by it. We grew up in this game loving it. To be a part of it is a blessing, but I want to honor [my dad]."
The Internet lit up with many expressing indignation over the NFL decision.
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