Odell Beckham Jr. has gotten himself into another fine mess, and this time, he said all he was trying to do was raise some money for charity.
Beckham took to social media — now there’s a rarity — to state he was fined $18,000 by the NFL for wearing colorful special cleats in tribute to Craig Sager during last week’s 17-6 victory over the Lions.
Beckham did not wear the cleats during pre-game warm-ups – which is allowed by the league – but did wear them during the game, a violation of league rules.
Beckham wrote on Instagram, in the comments section of a post by Redskins receiver DeSean Jackson, that he auctioned the special Sager cleats for charity to promote cancer research.
“18k like it’s nothing to them, no warning to take them off or anything noTHING!” Beckham wrote.
Earlier in the week, Beckham complained of a double-standard in the league, opining he believes he would have been fined for doing what Cowboys rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott did as a touchdown celebration last week. Elliott jumped into an oversized Salvation Army kettle and was not fined.
“First, I was just laughing,’’ Beckham said. “I love seeing Zeke out there just having fun. You’re supposed to have fun. He’s out there jumping into whatever it was, the Salvation Army cup. He’s hiding in there and then gets up. I thought it was hilarious. It’s not really a big deal, it’s just the way the world works.
“There’s double standards everywhere. It’s just how life is. I’m absolutely positive if I would’ve done that, I would’ve been fined. It’s whatever. It’s nothing against Zeke. Zeke is my boy. I have a Zeke jersey right there, so there’s no problems with anything like that. You set rules and limitations but you don’t follow them.’’