Nike Hates Happy Things, Will Terminate NFL Endorsements Over Customized Cleats

By Josh Hill | Nov 13, 2014

Dec 22, 2013; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) wears Superman cleats prior to the start of the game against the New Orleans Saints at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports /

Nike has taken the NFL and turned it into a fashion show but they want athletes to leave the creativity to their marketing department and stop customizing their cleats.

When Nike secured the rights to be the exclusive merchandiser of NFL appeal a few years ago, lots of fans got excited over the idea of having a progressive and frankly cool company take over the look of NFL gear. This mean New Era caps for NFL teams, slick Nike jackets and jerseys and some redesigned logo concepts.

More from NFL

Nike hasn’t gone full Nike yet with the NFL the way they have with College Football uniforms — but whatever they did with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is dangerously close. That’s when Nike started to test their welcome in the NFL and they’re once again flexing their muscles to let players know that they own them and it’s not the other way around.

Case in point being that Nike wants NFL players to stop having fun customizing their cleats because they can’t sell those at $120 a pop in their stores. They don’t actually say the second part, but we all know that’s the reason here.

TMZ obtained a letter that comes dangerously close to saying that word for word though:

"The letter reads, “Your Nike Football Contract requires that you wear ‘Nike’ products that have been designated by Nike Sports Marketing for such use.”“Nike views third-party customization (or post-embellishment) of Nike footwear to be a violation of the contract, triggering Nike’s right to immediately terminate the contract.”"

Basically, Nike hates happy things unless they can sell those happy things. We thought the NFL was a totalitarian system of governing but this borders on s different kind. The customization that Nike is growing upon includes Breast Cancer Awareness bands and all other alterations to cleats that they don’t approve of.

What Nike is saying is NFL players are great models for their outfits, but how dare someone come in and tell DaVinci how to paint the Mona Lisa. Once NFL players complete their courses at the Harvard School of Shoe Design, then they can start messing with their cleats.

It all comes down to a contract, and that needs to be honored. But this is a dopey look for a Nike company that prides itself on being at he cutting edge of cool — not trapped in an episode of Mad Men.

More from FanSided