NFL forces Antonio Brown to take off Muhammad Ali cleats

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown faced a simple choice Sunday—take off cleats honoring Muhammad Ali or exit the game against the New York Jets.

Brown took the cleats off.

We already detailed the amazing cleats here, but a refresher is available among the many negative reactions to the  move by the NFL:

so…. the NFL made Antonio Brown take off Muhammad Ali tribute cleats… a week after they OK-ed him wearing Arnold Palmer cleats
huh

— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) October 9, 2016

How dare @AntonioBrown wear these cleats. How dare he honor one of the greatest athletes and people of all time. Screw you, @nfl. pic.twitter.com/Z3CbT9nnjD

— Zach Brunner (@FantasyFlurry) October 9, 2016

CBS: Antonio Brown was forced to remove his Muhammad Ali cleats during the game #steelers

— Kimberley A. Martin (@ByKimberleyA) October 9, 2016

Indeed, the NFL doesn’t get a passing grade for this one. If the NFL told him not to, fine. But Brown had made it known on social media all week he was going to wear the cleats, so it’s hard to imagine the league didn’t understand it was happening.

Alas, the NFL just supplied more ammo for critics tired of the league’s seemingly harsh rules.