Two police unions have offered to pay any fine the NFL hands to Tennessee Titans linebacker Avery Williamson for wearing red, white, and blue cleats to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Port Authority Police Benevolent Association said in a statement to The Tennesseean that it and the New Jersey State Police Benevolent Association will pay "any reasonable fine" given to the linebacker if he follows through with his plan.
The PAPD is the police department that has always patrolled the World Trade Center complex. On September 11, 2001, the PAPD lost 37 police officers at the World Trade Center, the largest single loss ever suffered by a police department in the history of American law enforcement. We read, with understandable interest, your piece on Avery Williamson and the NFL's stance on Avery honoring the September 11th victims. We, along with the New Jersey State Police Benevolent Association, are offering to pay any reasonable fine levied by the NFL if Avery chooses to wear his 9/11 cleats.”
Williamson backed off his idea to wear the custom cleats after the league said he'd be fined for violating the uniform code.
"I don't want to draw negative attention, so I'm just going to focus on playing the game," Williamson said. "Once I heard from them, I didn't even try to argue anything. I just left it alone. I didn't want to press the issue."
It's unclear if the police union's offer has changed Williamson's mind about wearing the cleats, as the linebacker's said previously that he will auction the cleats off instead.
