Carolina Panthers’ Cam Newton is wearing Superman cleats against Seattle Seahawks (photo)

While Shaquille O’Neal may have been the originator of the whole ‘Superman’ thing, Cam Newton might be the most realistic player to take use of the nickname.

Some of Newton’s abilities are superhero-ish and wanting to pay tribute to it, Newton was spotted warming up in what else? No – not tights, but rather Superman cleats.

I have to say – the cleats are pretty badass. We’ve seen a handful of players wear their own custom painted shoes in the past (Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green is wearing custom Bengal striped shoes today), these might take the cake.

Unfortunately for Newton, I’m pretty sure that as neat as they are, they’ll be drawing a hefty fine as the NFL won’t be too accepting of cleats that don’t match the uniform policy. But dammit, what’s a few extra grand when you can wear your own customized Superman cleats, right?