Interesting footwear tidbit from Sunday night's 49ers-Bears game, as San Francisco Wide Receiver Anquan Boldin decided to wear a pair of Nike Mercurial Superfly IV soccer boots rather than a pair of traditional football cleats.
The folks over at Soccer Cleats 101 point out that football players may gain an advantage by opting for soccer boots over football cleats because of the weight differences. Football cleats tend to be bulkier and heavier, whereas today's soccer cleats are all about being lightweight. With the Mercurial Superfly IV's dynamic fit collar, Boldin retained the high top feel of traditional football cleats while benefitting from the Superfly's mere 7 ounce weight.
The move is not unprecedented, as last season Chicago's Brandon Marshall wore a pair of green Nike Hypervenom Phatal soccer boots in a game to raise awareness for Mental Illnesses. Of course, in typical NFL fashion, Marshall was fined $10,000 for his cleats failing to match his uniform.
If wearing soccer cleats wasn't enough of a nod to the beautiful game, both Boldin and Marshall met at midfield and swapped jerseys after the game which, as you know, happens to be a long-practiced post-game custom of soccer players.
