CeeDee Lamb Fine Controversy Leads to Exclusive Nike Release

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Nathan Karseno | Last updated May 17, 2025 2:05 PM ET

Basketball icon Michael Jordan once turned a shoe that was "banned" from NBA competition into a multi-billion brand that redefined the footwear industry forever.

In the mid '80s, Jordan would reportedly be fined $5,000 every time he wore his signature black and red Nike shoe in a game because it didn't align with the NBA's uniform color policies. Nike capitalized on the shoe's notoriety by covering the fines and using elite marketing to build something new.

The Air Jordan brand would go on to help popularize "sneaker culture" through the blending of athletic performance footwear and pop culture fashion.

And the rest was history.

Fast forward to today? We may have an example of this in the NFL.

Dallas Cowboys superstar wide receiver CeeDee Lamb was victim to numerous fines from the NFL last season, often having to do with uniform violations.

“I got fined a lot this year, bro, I’m like a target, I don’t get it,” Lamb said to The Dallas Morning News last season.

A memorable example was Dallas' Week 15 game last season in a road contest against the Carolina Panthers.

The Cowboys were wearing the dark blue jerseys with silver pants and Lamb - known to be one of the flashiest and style-centric players in the league today - wore eye-popping neon green Nike cleats.

This brought Lamb a hefty fine because the NFL uniform policy states a player's cleats must be all white if they don't feature their team's colors scheme.

Lamb must have known about the penalty, because he changed cleats at halftime of this game.

But just like Jordan: First comes the fine. Then comes the future.

Little did we know, this Week 15 showing was a sneak-peak unveiling of something CeeDee and Nike have been partnering on ever since.

Friday, Nike unveiled Lamb's first ever player-edition (PE) cleat. The shoe is called the Nike Vapor Pro 1 "CeeDee Lamb" which conveniently comes in the same "slime" green color he wore against Carolina.

Nike Vapor Pro 1 “CeeDee Lamb”

If you ask @_CeeDeeThree slime isn’t just a word — it’s a lifestyle.

It’s the connection that turns friends into family. It’s the mentality that turns every snap into a show.

It’s CeeDee Lamb. It’s the culture.

Available soon. pic.twitter.com/64gw20I40T
— Nike Football (@usnikefootball) May 16, 2025

Lamb has had a Nike partnership since he entered the league in 2020, and now this marks his first collaboration with the brand. While it isn't a "signature shoe", Nike's "player-edition" is the next best honor.

The shoes will release on the Nike website on June 11 for $150 in adult sizes.

The "slime" slogan is also a reference to CeeDee's signature nose-wipe first down celebration ... be we may not be seeing that much on the field this season.

We may not get to see this colorway of Lamb's cleats in game action either, unless the NFL makes changes to their strict uniform rules.

The NBA eventually came around to allow freedom of expression with multi-colored sneakers ... but that might take a while for the "No Fun League".

Cowboys fans hope whatever color cleats CeeDee wears will help him secure a lot of touchdowns this season with Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: