Small footwear company moves into
spotlight with Bears QB Caleb Williams wearing its cleats
[November 07, 2026]
By JAY COHEN
CHICAGO (AP) — It all began with a phone call. Dr. Tom Gormely
reached out to Caddix last year. The sports performance coach told
the startup company he had a quarterback who wanted to try its
cleats.
“We said, ‘Who?’” Caddix CEO Jack Rasmussen recalled. “And he said,
‘I’ll tell you later.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, this is a fun
conversation.’”
It turns out the fun was just beginning.
Gormely's client was Chicago Bears star Caleb Williams, and the call
marked a watershed moment for Caddix — even if no one knew exactly
how it was going to go at the time. Williams started using the
cleats this season, and he was fined $11,941 by the NFL for wearing
an unauthorized logo in Week 6 at Atlanta and $23,882 for the same
infraction in Week 7 against New England.
It was quite a moment for Baltimore-based Caddix, which has four
employees and earned just under $2 million in revenue last year.
“To be able to turn around with this press from Caleb Williams and
to get what would be tens of millions of dollars in free advertising
and conversation, that is a cash cow for a small company,” said
Peter Stolpe, a professor in the Warsaw Sports Business Center at
the University of Oregon. “That is fantastic news. And it’s even
more fantastic news that the player of record is saying, I feel
better in these cleats.”
NFL policy prohibits players from displaying unapproved logos on
their footwear. The three authorized footwear suppliers for the
league are Adidas, Nike and Under Armour. If players decide to use
shoes or cleats from another company, all visible third-party names,
logos, brands or other commercial identification have to be removed
or covered.
Caddix doesn't have a sponsorship deal with Williams — the No. 1
pick in the 2024 draft — but Rasmussen has offered to pay the NFL
fines. Caddix also provided a blank pair of cleats that Williams
used in Monday night's 34-17 win at Seattle, staving off any further
punishment from the league.
“Just to calm things down, man,” Williams said.
Caddix cleats have flexible studs that are designed to reduce strain
on knees and ankles. Williams helped develop his model with Gormely
and Rasmussen, who flew to Florida in June to watch the quarterback
throw and work on the final details.
“The cleats, they’ve been great, they’ve been super comfy and
they’ve worked,” Williams said. “They are a science type of cleat.
... They call them smart studs, and they move when you move in these
hard plants so they take tension off of your tendons and your
joints.”
More than 80 NFL players are using Caddix cleats, according to
Rasmussen. The list includes Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper
Kupp, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Jalen Ramsey and Buffalo Bills
tight end Dalton Kincaid.
Kayla Sharples, a defender on the NWSL's Kansas City Current, is an
investor in Caddix, and the brand also is popular in women's
lacrosse.
San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk said he has been wearing
the cleats for two years, and he whites out the logo to avoid a
fine.
“I’ve genuinely never slipped since I’ve worn these,” he said.
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The cleats of Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams are seen
during the second half an NFL football game against the Seattle
Seahawks, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Mark J.
Terrill)
Carolina Panthers cornerback Will Lee said he
started using the cleats after he saw teammate Jaycee Horn wearing
them in the offseason.
“They got the rotational studs in the bottom of them, so they help a
lot with cuts, breaks on grass fields and turf fields,” he said.
The origins of Caddix trace back to former Kansas City Chiefs
running back Jamaal Charles tearing the ACL in his right knee in
October 2015. Rasmussen and his father, Jeff, were watching the
game, and they thought it looked like a solvable footwear problem.
Jack Rasmussen was 19 at the time. He was a college dropout and
worked as a housekeeper. But he studied biomechanics and physics and
applied for a patent with his dad while they developed their idea
for cleats.
He eventually went back to school, playing college football as a
punter for Missouri Western State and Western New Mexico.
“Honestly, I didn’t play football till I was 23 years old, so I
didn’t know much about it,” Rasmussen said. “I didn’t play in high
school or anything. ... So being on the football field and watching
my teammates complain about their cleats, it was so informational
because the best part about cleats is taking them off, you know. So
I had testers at my disposal all the time.”
Veteran quarterback Joe Flacco was among a group of roughly 25 NFL
players who started wearing the cleats in 2024, and they were
approved for on-field use by the league before last season. Flacco
and former Baltimore Ravens tight ends Todd Heap and Dennis Pitta
are all investors in the company.
Pitta introduced the cleats to Kincaid, who was slowed by knee
injuries the past two years. The 27-year-old Kincaid started wearing
them during offseason workouts.
“I love them. I’m going to continue to wear them,” Kincaid said. “I
actually just texted Dennis, I was like, I need a new pair. They’ve
been great to me.”
Rasmussen said Caddix has been selling cleats for 19 months, and the
company is working on raising money through a funding round. It
could make a recovery or lifestyle shoe down the road.
“It’s pretty rare air that we’re breathing, but it’s exciting,”
Rasmussen said. “It’s really tough to quantify. ... It’s an exciting
ride.”
___
AP Pro Football Writers Rob Maaddi and Josh Dubow, and AP Sports
Writers John Wawrow, Steve Reed and Will Graves contributed to this
report.
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