Top-5 NFL Co-Branded Kicks

NFL kicks get very little love in the grand scheme of sneaker collecting. Few sneakerheads walk into a spot looking to stunt on their friends with some new Nike Free Trainers dressed in Los Angeles Rams colors. By no means are we dismissing these kinds of kinds; NFL trainers are great for the gym and practical wear, but they’re not breaking necks. Team based footwear seems to be the wave of the present and future. Signature football shoes off the gridiron have been sporadic. The Calvin Johnson line ended with the CJ3 in 2015 and Nike released the DangeRuss Wilson trainer (very quietly) in July of 2018; outside of those two athletes signature football shoes aren’t created anymore. The last two brands to hold the NFL’s licensing rights, Nike and Reebok, capitalized on their respective partnerships and released fistfuls of kicks donning the Shield and various team’s logos. The concept works exceptionally well – most NFL fans (even casual fans) genuinely enjoy rocking their team’s gear, and creating matching footwear has paid off in spades. With that said, we’ve ranked our top-5 favorite NFL x (Nike) (Reebok) kicks of all-time, enjoy!

Reebok Field Pass – 2008; Various Teams

Curious design right? These don’t look like Nike Dunk Lows, right? Right (sigh). Regardless of inspirational cues, the Reebok Field Passes worked. Simple execution of either leather, metallic and patent leather gives each pair a personal (to each franchise) feel. Two laces were available if you wanted to get fancy with your lacing (see above). Jokes aside the Field Passes got the job done for those Sunday Warriors out there. 

Nike Dunk – 2012; Various Teams

Nike wasted no time flooding the NFL apparel game with new gear when they became the NFL’s outfitter in 2012. Nike’s classic Dunk released in limited yet effective color options for each and every team via Nike ID. Both lows and highs were available with simple ID options like logos on the tongue and jersey numbers on the heel. The NFL Dunks are easily the most approachable kicks on this list in terms of casual wear without a jersey on.

Nike Field General – 2012; Various Teams

Nike took a unique approach to their football trainers in 2014 by releasing the Field General. Instead of tying the shoes to a specific athlete, Nike marked these as the kicks for Quarterbacks (in general, field general aka QB). Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck and Drew Brees served as the poster boys for these underrated trainers. Honestly, they never got any love but the design is aggressive and fresh – they’re not meant for the club, they’re meant to put in work!

Reebok Omni Lite Pump – 2011; 49ers

You can’t go wrong with some Pump OmniLites. The timeless (and dated, yes, they’re both) design lends itself well to almost any collaborative situation. The wool accents used alongside buttery leather gives these another layer of detail other shoes on this list lack. This 49er’s iteration perfectly summarizes what Reebok should have done more of… use better models for their NFL kicks.

Nike SC Trainer – 2012; Various Teams

Bo Jackson x NFL x Nike… do we need to explain why these are awesome in anymore detail? No. Of the pack, the Denver and Chiefs colorways dominated their competition with the best and boldest colorblocking. The SC trainer is football and when you mix in literal football then you get our number 1 NFL sneaker in all the land.