Caleb Williams hasn't been fined for Week 7, despite wearing unauthorized shoes

The NFL fined Bears quarterback Caleb Williams $11,941 for wearing an "unauthorized logo" on his shoes in Week 6, at Atlanta. In Week 7, he wore the same brand of shoe — Caddix, which doesn't have a licensing deal with the NFL.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Williams has not yet been fined. (For Week 6, the fine was issued on the following Tuesday.)

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Williams explained on Wednesday his reasons for wearing shoes made by a company that doesn't have a money-for-nothing deal with the NFL.

"As we've known for the past couple of years now, I'm huge into my body," Williams said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN. "I'm huge into trying to stay on the field. I'm huge into trying to be healthy. It's a rough game and things like that. So the cleats, they've been great. They've been super comfy and they've worked. They are a science-type of cleat. It's something that focuses on when you plant on the hard plants on turf or grass, they call them SmartStuds, and they move when you move in these hard plants. They take tension off of your tendons, your joints and all of that. So over the course of a long career or over the course of a long year, when you can take some percentage -- it could be one, it could 50, it could be 12, it could be whatever, you know. When you take that percentage off consistently over a period of time, you know, you get to have the chance, a higher chance of being healthy. And so that's what I focus on.

"I try to be healthy. They're smart cleats. They're science cleats, and they've been working for me. A bunch of other guys wear them in the league, and they're forward-focused on making sure players stay on the field, and that's what I'm always focused on."

The NFL didn't fine Williams for wearing the Caddix cleats in the preseason or in Week 1 or Week 2 of the regular season. (He didn't play in Week 3, Week 4, or Week 5 due to a hamstring injury.)

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Although Caddix plans to pay Williams's fine, league rules generally prohibit the payment of fines by anyone other than the person fined. Caddix could easily tiptoe around that technicality with an endorsement deal with Williams. (Then again, he's already giving the team a strong endorsement for free.)

The situation has put the league in an awkward spot. On one hand, it needs to protect the shoe companies that pay the league good money for the right to outfit its players. On the other hand, if the Caddix shoes are safer, the league risks creating the perception (yet again) that supposed concerns about health and safety take a backseat to the ongoing pursuit of the almighty dollar.