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The loss of John Madden affected the entire NFL, but perhaps none more so than the Raiders fanbase, who watched the legendary coach up close for a full decade as their head coach in the 1970s.
Thus, the Raiders, more than any other team, felt a sense of urgency in honoring him by trying to bring his former team to the playoffs. DeSean Jackson took it one step further.
The wide receiver had special cleats made in honor of John Madden and planned to wear them on the field during the game.
Instead, according to Heavy, the wide receiver was allegedly told not to use the cleats or he would be pulled from the game.
Why are John Madden tribute cleats a violation of the NFL's uniform code?
General rules prohibit players from wearing cleats that are out of uniform outside of the league's annual "My Cause, My Cleats" week. Jackson was not allowed to wear the Madden-honoring cleats outside of that week.
Even if done with the best intentions, the rules cannot be bent, even for a Madden tribute.
As such, while most would likely be in favor of an extra tribute to John Madden, the rules exist for a reason and offer no exceptions.
The league knew this and were forced to adhere to the rule. If this was not enforced, it would have set a precedent allowing something similar to be done moving forward.
Of course, there is a difference between laws in a country and rules on the field, but the spirit of the dialogs are the same. Jackson challenged the spirit of the rule but there were no exceptions to be made from the league office.
Since those enforcing the rules have the power, they have the final say about what the rules meant.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has made it a point to stress the importance of teams and players abiding by the rules since he entered the position in 2006.
Put simply, if Jackson has a strong enough problem with the rule, he can work with the league office in an attempt to plead his case. Otherwise, the receiver should simply focus on winning games and giving a tribute to Madden that's within the boundaries of the league.
