As we mentioned earlier this week, the NFL has banned players from wearing any non-Bose headphones on the field, in the locker room or while talking to the press after the game. Which is why San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick is being hit with a $10,000 fine for sporting a pair of the Beats headphones (that he gets paid a lot more than ten grand to endorse).

NFL.com writes that Kaepernick, who is seen above in a still image from one of his TV ads for Beats, confirmed on Thursday that he’d been fined for wearing the decidedly non-Bose headgear while chatting with the press after last weekend’s victory against the Kansas City Chiefs.

No one likes to scoff at being fined $10,000, but since Kaepernick signed a deal in June that could pay him upwards of $12.6 million over the next six seasons, it’s a fine he can afford to pay.

It’s also possible that Beats, which is now owned by Apple, could reimburse Kaepernick. After all, the mere coverage of this story is probably worth more publicity than any more-expensive TV ad could have given Beats.

But Kaepernick isn’t saying who will pick up the tab for the fine, telling reporters, “We’ll let that be unanswered.”

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