After cutting a deal with Bose Headphones, the NFL publicly announced last Sunday morning that any player wearing Beats by Dre Headphones, specifically, would be issued a fine. The first victim of this fine was San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who now owes $10,000 to the NFL for appearing on-screen with Beats by Dre Headphones in a post-game press conference.
Kaepernick was featured in a number of commercials endorsing the headphones, and, when asked about the situation, the QB implied that Beats would paying the fine on his behalf.
I asked Colin Kaepernick if he or Beats by Dre will pay the $10K fine. “We’ll let that be unanswered,” he said.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoCSN) October 9, 2014
The sad state of affairs in the NFL seems to get sadder with every passing day. Banning headphones? Really? Doesn’t that seem a bit excessive, considering headphones have absolutely nothing to do with the actual game?
If Beats is paying Kaepernick’s fine, then wearing the headphones was a targeted act of defiance against the NFL. Considering all of the bad press that the NFL has received recently, defying them is probably one of the smarter PR moves.
Hopefully this issue will be resolved once Apple dissolves the Beats by Dre brand.