While pink merchandise can be seen as a gimmick that’s used for profit-making, there’s no doubt that the money raised not only helps fund research and care for those who suffer from this disease, but it also brings us closer and closer to the cure.
The color pink, to DeAngelo Williams, running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, is much more than just a fleeting shade. In the “Monday Morning Quarterback” column of Sports Illustrated, Williams penned a letter in which he detailed his family’s experiences with cancer. Four of his aunts died battling breast cancer before his mother, Sandra Kay Hill, passed away in 2014 at the age of 53.
“That’s why I am so passionate about raising awareness, because I have seen firsthand how it can impact others,” Williams said in the letter. “One time, a lady came up to me and said she was going to get examined just because she saw me wearing pink cleats during a game.”
According to MMQB, the NFL’s pink cleat initiative in 2009 was inspired by Williams’ mother. Williams started the DeAngelo Williams Foundation to provide mammograms to women.
The DeAngelo Williams Foundation Facebook page says its mission is to support the endeavor to find a cure for breast cancer through preventative care, such as mammograms, and research. That’s where the money raised through the sale of pink merchandise, combined with Williams’ own money, goes.
So wearing pink has become a beacon of hope to Williams. That’s why he implored people, in his letter, to wear pink at least once during October and to ask five women if they’ve recently done a mammogram. That’s why he pledged, through his foundation, to provide 53 women with mammograms, one for every year of his mother’s life. That’s why he wants to wear pink for the rest of the season.
NBC Sports reported that Williams requested to be allowed to continue to wear pink after October ends in honor of his mother and aunts, and Troy Vincent, NFL vice president of football operations, said no.
The refusal probably comes from the rigid policies regarding NFL uniforms. According to the official NFL playing rules, “The League will not grant permission for any club or player to wear, display, or otherwise convey messages, through helmet decals, arm bands, jersey patches, or other items affixed to game uniforms or equipment, which relate to political activities or causes, other non-football events, causes or campaigns, or charitable causes or campaigns.”
Most of the rules regarding colors that players are allowed to wear are as follows: any equipment and attire, such as stockings, gloves and wristbands, must be either black, white or a single team color as approved by the NFL Commissioner. Cleats can have three colors, for example, as long as they are black, white and one of the team colors, as approved, and all players on the team have cleats with the same dominant color. All items worn on game day must be issued by the NFL or by a manufacturer previously approved.
The stringency of the NFL’s uniform policy stems from a desire to keep the game fair. Having multiple colors across a single team can be confusing, inconsistency is unprofessional, and differences in appearance may cause unfair advantages.
Since players are allowed to raise breast cancer awareness during October’s “A Crucial Catch” campaign, and the outcome of games are unaffected by pink ribbons on helmets and footballs and pink gloves and cleats, all of which are used during games, then what is the problem with allowing a player to continue the fight on behalf of his mother, aunts and all women who are affected every day of the year? There is no unfair advantage in wearing pink.
It makes sense that the league can’t be partial to a single player. If that were the case, then along with allowing Williams to wear pink, the NFL would have to allow players to wear all sorts of colors for various causes. The rules explicitly state that it cannot and will not allow players to do so. There are enough team colors in the NFL to warrant a limitation on colors worn for a cause. It’s only reasonable that the rules were created with this in mind.
In response, Williams wears his hair long and dyed pink, in memory of his mother. According to NBC Sports, Williams researched the NFL’s rules extensively, finding no regulations regarding hair; he plans to continue to keep his hair long and pink, showing underneath his Steelers helmet.
The fact that he was willing to go so far out of his way to find a loophole to honor a cause he deeply and passionately cares about says more than enough. Cancer is a year-long fight; awareness should be pursued for just as long.
