Forced to choose between the pandering of Pinktober and its commitment to its sponsors, the NFL has come down firmly on the side of its corporate overlords. Colin Kaepernick confirmed today that the league fined him $10,000 for wearing the wrong headphones on Sunday.



Sponsorship deals are nothing new—remember when the NFL fined Alex Smith for wearing a San Francisco Giants cap during that team's 2012 championship run?—but the headphone wars are extra interesting because they pit the league's chosen brand against the one that's very visibly and successfully associated itself with individual NFL stars. Kaepernick has chosen his side. So did Richard Sherman, who we presume has also been notified of his fine.