Tennessee Titans Coach Mike Mularkey Says He'll Pay Avery Williamson's Shoe Fine

NASHVILLE, TN — At his Monday press availability, Tennessee Titans coach Mike Mularkey said that if linebacker Avery Williamson is pegged with a fine by the NFL for a uniform violation after wearing patriotic, 9/11-themed cleats in Sunday's loss to the Minnesota Vikings, he won't have to worry about paying it or even passing the hat.

Mularkey said he himself would write the check.

"Well, I said, 'I'm going to shoot you straight like I shoot everybody straight. If you don't wear those shoes, I'll be very disappointed in you. Because all I want from you guys is to do things the right way,'" Mularkey said Monday. "And him wearing those shoes is doing something the right way. If he gets a fine, I'm going to take care of that."

After Williamson revealed the custom cleats, he was contacted by the NFL front office, which threatened him with a fine. At first Williamson, at least publicly, backed off from his plan to wear them, even going so far as to wear standard-issue white cleats out to warm-outs as a ruse to assuage the NFL representative on-hand to monitor such minutiae.

But, once the game began, Williamson played in his star-spangled shoes.