NFL Players Wearing Pink Gear for Breast Cancer Awareness

Week 4 of the NFL season will feature all the hard hits of a typical football weekend, but it will also feature a touch of pink.

That's because the league, a strong supporter of the fight against breast cancer, is allowing players to wear pink gear in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The New York Times writes that players will be sporting pink cleats, gloves, sweatbands and towels. The idea for the pink spikes came from Carolina's DeAngelo Williams, whose mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. Her three sisters died from the disease.

"Her detecting it early was the reason she was able to pull through it,” Williams told the Times.

Early detection is the goal of the NFL's "A Crucial Catch" program, which will auction off the items worn by players and coaches and donate the proceeds to the American Cancer Society.

The idea has caught on, too. Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco, who showed football fans his human side during HBO's Hard Knocks this summer, wrote on his Twitter page that he is excited about the idea. He said that he'd be wearing all pink shoes, gloves, wrist bands, chinstrap and mouthpiece. He also said that he plans to wear the gear throughout the entire month of October and expects to be fined, but that he will match any fine with a donation.

Major League Baseball sponsors a similar event each Mother's Day, allowing players to use pink bats in support of breast cancer awareness.