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123 Sep 8 '19
                                      DENVER -- Players wearing calico cleats during NFL games this weekend wont have to worry about the leagues fashion police flagging them for fines over their choice of footwear. Ed Oliver Bills Jersey .More than 500 players will lace up customized cleats reflecting their charitable causes during Week 13 as part of the leagues My Cleats, My Cause campaign. Afterward, the stylish shoes will be auctioned to raise money for those charities.One of the great NFL traditions is how our players passionately support important causes in their communities and around the globe every year, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. They are incredibly creative by nature so we are not surprised how they are seizing the opportunity this week with expressions of their charitable commitments on their cleats, online and through social media.This marks the first time players can wear custom cleats during the game without facing fines.Im excited, said the always fashionable Von Miller, who will wear black-and-white cleats flecked with letters from an optometrists eye chart to highlight Vons Vision, which provides eyeglasses to underprivileged youth.Especially in a cookie-cutter league, youve got to wear your uniform a certain way, your socks a certain way, your helmet, gloves, everything a certain way, said Miller, a star linebacker for the Denver Broncos. To have an opportunity to express yourself through your cleats is pretty dope.Miller, who sports a tattoo on his left arm honoring his longtime sponsor, Adidas, wears custom cleats every week that are designed by Los Angeles artist Kickasso . But he only wears them during warmups because NFL rules prohibit players from wearing shoes during games that are not black or white with a team color.Miller debuted the Kanye West-designed Adidas Yeezy cleats while stretching on the field before the season opener, and then switched to a different pair of shoes 90 minutes before kickoff, as required. Houston receiver DeAndre Hopkins wore his pair of Yeezys in the popular turtle dove color during a game and said he was fined $6,000 by the NFL. He said hed only wear them again if Kanye wants to pay the fine.Hopkins wont have to worry about that this weekend when hell wear custom cleats to raise awareness for domestic violence.Players are increasingly wearing custom-designed cleats before games to make a statement, fashion or otherwise.Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has worn Back to the Future cleats advertising hover boards among his many other creative designs. Washington wide receiver DeSean Jackson wore cleats in a game with a yellow caution tape design in violation of league rules.The king of the specialized shoes is Steelers receiver Antonio Brown, whose custom cleats have featured images of his kids, Muhammad Ali, Arnold Palmer and Jose Fernandez. Some have run afoul of the leagues rules, like the ones with his children, which he was told to take off at halftime.Browns cleats this weekend highlight Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and teammate Ben Roethlisberger is joining in on the footwear fun to raise awareness for police and fire departments with K-9 units and service dogs.Many players worked with Nike, Under Armour and Adidas to design the cleats theyll wear in games this weekend. Others used their own designers. The Giants and Texans worked with an independent customizer to design cleats for their players.Greg Olsens cleats will raise awareness for congenital heart defects by telling the story of his son, T.J., who survived a heart defect as a baby. Eric Berrys tell the story of his battle with cancer and are designed to help raise awareness for Hodgkins Lymphoma. David Johnsons cleats promote an anti-bullying initiative.I think its a great thing, Roethlisberger said. I think its an awesome opportunity for guys in the NFL to showcase a foundation, a cause, whatever it is. There are so many great causes out there people dont know much about. Obviously the league puts its stamp on one or two things but theres so many things out there guys want to be known and want to be made aware of a cause or opportunity or whatever and this is an awesome opportunity to do it.I hope the league will continue to do it.---AP Sports Writer Will Graves contributed to this report.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton Josh Allen Womens Jersey . With his new coach and six-time Grand Slam singles champion Boris Becker watching him during an official match for the first time, Djokovic appeared tentative early against the Slovakian player, who often appeared content to keep the ball in play. Jordan Poyer Youth Jersey . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. http://www.shoptheofficialbills.com/Elite-Josh-Allen-Bills-Jersey/ . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. James Cummings proved that he can do it on his own as Prized Icon produced one of the strongest three-year-old staying performances of recent times in winning the Group 1 AAM Victoria Derby over 2500 metres - the feature race of Day 1 of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.Cummings, 28, confirmed that success is definitely in his bloodline as he followed in the footprints of his great grandfather James Cummings; his grandfather Bart Cummings, the Cups King; and his father, Anthony Cummings, in saddling a winner of the classic.Ridden by veteran South African-born jockey Glyn Schofield, Prized Icon ($17) saw off the challenge by favourite Sacred Elixir ($2.70) by two-and-a-half lengths with the well-backed Inference ($9.50) a further length-and-a-quarter away in third.Oceanographer put on a slashing Melbourne Cup trial in winning the Group 2 Lexus Stakes (2500m). Sweeping from last to first, and just getting there by the official margin of a long-neck, this Charlie Appleby-trained visitor from England propelled himself into calculations for Tuesdays race -- he is now second favourite at $6 with UBET?-- and received a one-kilogram penalty for the Cup in which he will now carry 52kg.Shane Nichols, from the Mornington Peninsula, meanwhile, saddled his first Group 1 win as I Am A Star ($8.50) saluted in the Myer Stakes (1600m). Jockey Dean Yendall is also having a Carnival to remember in riding his second career Group 1 winner after he steered Thursdays Crown Oaks favourite Yankee Rose to victory in the Spring Champion Stakes in Sydney three weeks earlier.The Mick Price-trained Flying Artie ($10) caused somewhat of an upset in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) for three-year-olds. Billed as the Race of the Spring, most pundits had his expected his stablemate Extreme Choice ($3.60) and Godolphins Astern ($2.80) would fight out the finish.The fourth Group 1 race on the day saw Le Romain ($15) win the Cantala Stakes over 1600 metres for Newcastle trainer Kris Lees, to give jockey Hugh Bowman a double after saluting aboard Flying Artie. In the very open race, favourite The United States ($6) finished just outside of the placings in fourth.Headline ActJames Cummings: Commenting that it might take a little while for the win to sink in, his reaction to the victory was as graceful as any post-race comments made immediately after the event could get -- especially when he paid tribute to the patient ride of Glyn Schofield in steering Prized Icon to victory.Away from the snapping photographers and glaring television cameras, the warm embrace between the trainer and his father, Anthony, said everything of their excitement at James achievement and the pride of a father seeing his son star on such a big stage. How often does the fourth generation of a training dynasty go on to win the same race over six decades?James was very quick to attribute any success he has had to the extraordinary situation of being mentored by his late grandfatherThe win was also a further family affair as James father-in-law, Filipino racehorse breeding magnate and major brewery executive Eduardo Cojuanco, bred Prized Icon at his southern New South Wales stud, while James wife -- Monica -- was also in the ownership.Talking PointDerby distance: It may not have been the first-choice topic of conversation among many of the 90,136 people who attended Derby Day, but the appropriateness of the 2500 metres Derby distance comes into question when many analysts are doing their form prior to the race. Jim Kelly Bills Jersey. The Derby is run three months after the competitors officially turn three-years-old on Aug. 1. Is the race programming expecting too much of these young horses in training for and running in such an important race over that grueling distance? Is it too long?While Prized Icon looked to have handled the trip within himself, there is a case made by some trainers that once they have prepared horses of this age to race over such a distance, then it is more difficult to prolong their racing careers with success into their fourth year and beyond.Will we see a 2000 metre Victoria Derby sometime soon? Probably not. Tradition will weigh heavily on any decision.EyecatchersOceanographer: He was rated a $151 hope when Melbourne Cup markets opened in August. This Charlie Appleby-trained English raider confirmed he wasnt in Australia just to be a low-flying chance with his slashing third placing in the Geelong Cup, and he followed up with one of the most impressive Lexus Stakes performances for a winner of that race -- and as such produced one of the best Melbourne Cup trials in recent years.With the winner of the Lexus Stakes gaining automatic entry into the Melbourne Cup field, chief handicapper Greg Carpenter still allotted a one-kilogram penalty on the strength of the win to take Oceanographers Cup impost to 52kg. It drew this response from Appleby toward jockey Chad Schofield, who will take the Cup ride: It told Chad that he can have an extra cup of tea on the day then.UBET have Oceanographer as the second-favourite for the Melbourne Cup at $7.50.?Tiamo Grace: The Group 2 Wakeful Stakes (2000m) has historically been the best guide to the Group 1 Crown Oaks (2500m) the following Thursday, and Tiamo Grace may well take it up to race favourite and Cox Plate third placegetter Yankee Rose in the classic. Tiamo Graces Wakeful win followed up a luckless run at Caulfield a fortnight earlier. While UBET have rated Yankee Rose at $1.95 in their Oaks market, Tiamo Grace is the second-favourite at $4.60.BlackbookersPure Pride: She was awkwardly away from the gates in the Group 1 Myer Classic and rattled home for fifth placing at $51. Should trainer Murray Johnson decide to line her up in the Group 2 Sandown Guineas (1600m) on Nov. 12, she may be one to remember.Rocketeer: There has to be a feature race win for this guy somewhere when the Autumn Carnival comes around in Sydney next year -- or earlier in the late summer features in Melbourne. He produced four consecutive second placings in lead-up runs and still ran a gallant seventh in the Derby at $12 having had to contend with starting from barrier No. 19.FlopAcatour: This colt may have jumped away from the barriers awkwardly and found to be lame in one leg post-race, but that gives no comfort to the punters who charged into him at $5 with UBET in the dying minutes before race time. Although there were those excuses, as noted in the Stewards Report, the colt also failed at its previous run at Caulfield as the $2.60 favourite. ' ' ' 
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