I'm the (marked) man: Colin Kaepernick fined $10,000 for headphones

Beats by Dre produces high-end headphones, but they're probably not worth the $10,000 San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick paid to wear them last week.

The NFL, which just fined Denver Broncos tight end Julius Thomas and Cleveland Browns linebacker Christian Kirksey a little more than $8,200 each for dirty hits last Sunday, fined Kaepernick $10,000 for wearing non-approved headphones in a postgame press conference, according to CSN Bay Area's Matt Maiocco.

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The NFL has a new deal with Bose headphones, and banned players from wearing other headphones in postgame interviews. Beats by Dre, in a stroke of marketing genius, has gained popularity in part because athletes seem to always have the headphones around their neck or planted on their head when they're on camera before or after games. And one would imagine that Kaepernick, one of the main spokesmen for Beats by Dre, was told that the multi-billion dollar headphones company would pay whatever fine Kaepernick got for continuing to wear the product. For a company like that, $10,000 in advertising for being part of an NFL controversy is just a sound investment.

The NFL has a long history of protecting its official sponsors, and handing out fines when players wear unapproved gear before, during or after games. NFL rules say that players can't wear unapproved headphones (or other gear) for 90 minutes after the game ends. Kaepernick did a memorable ad for Beats by Dre commercial to Aloe Blacc's song, "The Man," and has probably become the athlete most associated with the headphones. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman is also a spokesman for the company, and wore the headphones before Monday night's game according to @gifdsports with a h/t to Deadspin, so he has likely been fined as well.

It'll be interesting to see if Kaepernick keeps wearing the headphones (it's pretty clear last Sunday wasn't an accident). Because he can be sure the NFL will keep fining him if he does.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab