{"id":48776,"date":"2025-05-17T00:15:18","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T00:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48776"},"modified":"2025-05-17T00:15:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T00:15:18","slug":"odell-beckham-jr-says-he-invented-the-cleat-game-nfl-fans-react","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48776","title":{"rendered":"Odell Beckham Jr. Says He &#8220;Invented the Cleat Game&#8221; \u2014 NFL Fans React"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"tagStyle_1bmarg5-o_O-style_gt0nzj-o_O-sidesPadding_1kaga1a\">\n<div>Odell Beckham Jr. said he &#8220;invented the cleat game&#8221; with his custom footwear and NFL fans responded on social media.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wrapper_e296pg\">\n<div class=\"wrapper_oenkmd\">\n<div class=\"wrapper_1vgzeyt\">\n<div class=\"style_1q03211\">\n<figure class=\"base_1ruub6q\" data-mm-type=\"image\"><picture class=\"base_1emrqjj\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"base_1emrqjj\" title=\"NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. said he &quot;invented the cleat game&quot; with his custom footwear.\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3845,h_2162,x_0,y_197\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/voltaxMediaLibrary\/mmsport\/kicks\/01jvd2xf90ed5acetmw6.jpg\" alt=\"NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. said he &quot;invented the cleat game&quot; with his custom footwear.\" data-uw-rm-alt-original=\"NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. said he &quot;invented the cleat game&quot; with his custom footwear.\" data-uw-rm-alt=\"ALT\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wrapper_brpv6a\">NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. said he &#8220;invented the cleat game&#8221; with his custom footwear. \/ IMAGO \/ Icon Sportswire<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inStoryContainer_1r009zu\">\n<div class=\"wrapper_qe1qt7\">\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_8tjcqixzj\">Odell Beckham Jr. is currently a free agent, but the wide receiver built a Hall of Fame career over the course of a decade with five teams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_hy3vy9yzs\">Whether fans think of Beckham as a New York Giant, Miami Dolphin, or one of his successful steps in between, it is impossible to separate him from his stunning footwear rotation on the field.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_gof038265\">Beckham is aware of his influence on the footwear industry and football culture, which led him to make a bold claim. Beckham said of himself, &#8220;Invented the cleat game. Let&#8217;s be honest.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"style_hfl21i-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_9v8hx4txi\"><iframe id=\"instagram-embed-0\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" title=\"instagram\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DJuG-RxRTyX\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=772&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com&amp;rp=%2Ffannation%2Fsneakers%2Fnews%2Fodell-beckham-jr-says-he-invented-the-cleat-game-nfl-fans-react#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A2515.699999988079%2C%22ls%22%3A732.1999999880791%2C%22le%22%3A2042.5%7D\" height=\"1066\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" data-uw-rm-iframe=\"gn\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_ce2hihmup\">While NFL fans are eager to debate almost anything, there was not much pushback on Beckham&#8217;s claim. Many of the comments on the Complex Sneakers\u00a0Instagram post\u00a0were in agreement with &#8220;OBJ.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_2pizkhm5z\">&#8220;He got fined for wearing custom cleats. No lies detected,&#8221; said @swithadot. &#8220;People had custom cleats before this, but he stapled himself into a different league with the kicks,&#8221; added @des_to_dolo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_czyx9h935\">The user @kicksologyg said, &#8220;He ain&#8217;t start it, but he without question got it poppin&#8217;.&#8221; Other football fans mentioned Cam Newton and Chad Ochocinco Johnson for wearing custom cleats before Beckham.<\/p>\n<div id=\"tout_d_3_5\" class=\"mm-slot-content\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"style_hfl21i-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_kx5ivlf2f\"><iframe id=\"instagram-embed-1\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" title=\"instagram\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZ-dGDlvVKX\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=772&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com&amp;rp=%2Ffannation%2Fsneakers%2Fnews%2Fodell-beckham-jr-says-he-invented-the-cleat-game-nfl-fans-react#%7B%22ci%22%3A1%2C%22os%22%3A2520.699999988079%2C%22ls%22%3A732.1999999880791%2C%22le%22%3A2042.5%7D\" height=\"914\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-1\" data-uw-rm-iframe=\"gn\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_e8fsdqjj0\">While Beckham&#8217;s career still is not over, neither is his footwear legacy. In July 2024, a lengthy legal battle between Beckham and Nike finally\u00a0concluded. The results were mixed for both parties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_t94n7qtvp\">The All-Pro wide receiver has since worn adidas and other custom cleats (including\u00a0Kyrie Irving&#8217;s kicks) on the field since his acrimonious split with Nike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_1vtdh0ed6\">Regardless of Beckham&#8217;s next moves on the football field, everyone seems to be agreement that he was an integral part of football cleat culture for a decade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_l45w0ewsd\">Stay locked into Sports Illustrated&#8217;s\u00a0<em>Kicks On SI\u00a0<\/em>for all your footwear news from the NFL and beyond.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Odell Beckham Jr. said he &#8220;invented the cleat game&#8221; with his custom footwear and NFL fans responded on social media. NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. said&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Odell Beckham Jr. Says He &quot;Invented the Cleat Game&quot; \u2014 NFL Fans React - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48776\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Odell Beckham Jr. Says He &quot;Invented the Cleat Game&quot; \u2014 NFL Fans React - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Odell Beckham Jr. said he &#8220;invented the cleat game&#8221; with his custom footwear and NFL fans responded on social media. 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