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 / Updated / Source: TODAY By Molly Blake 
 
 Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams announced earlier this month that his nonprofit organization, The DeAngelo Williams Foundation, will cover the cost of 53 mammograms at hospitals located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Pittsburgh. 
 
 Williams is a staunch supporter of breast cancer awareness. In 2014, Williams’ mother, Sandra Hill, died after battling breast cancer. She was just 53 years old. He also lost his four aunts to the disease, but not before leading a push in 2009 to allow NFL players to wear pink cleats throughout October, Breast Cancer Awareness month. 
 
 Ever since then, fans have become accustomed to seeing pink — pink headphones, pink cleats, pink pompoms — on gobs of NFL gear throughout October — but only October. That’s not sitting well with Williams, who wanted to show his support for breast cancer awareness all season long by wearing pink accessories during games. 
 
 Williams was promptly told no by NFL’s vice president of football operations Troy Vincent. The NFL later issued this statement. “There is a long-standing policy for all players regarding uniforms that is league-wide for all 32 teams. The league works with the clubs and players to raise awareness collectively for breast cancer during the month of October.” 
 
 It’s not the NFL’s first (nor likely the last) brush with players testing the league’s patience. The NFL recently levied a personal messages fine of $5,787 against Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward when he inked “Ironhead” on his eye black in a nod to his father, Craig “Ironhead” Heyward, who died of cancer in 2006. 
 
 RELATED: Teen who beat brain tumor celebrates being cancer-free at NFL game 
 
 The fine list is released each year and players are schooled on the policy during training camp. For example, the fine for excessive profanity and other unsportsmanlike conduct is $11,576, while physical contact with an official runs $28,940. ||||| Scott Van Pelt shares his take on DeAngelo Williams, who was told over the phone by NFL vice president of football operations Troy Vincent that he couldn't wear pink accessories throughout the season because there are no exceptions to the uniform policy. (2:05) 
 
 SAN DIEGO -- DeAngelo Williams was told over the phone by NFL vice president of football operations Troy Vincent that he couldn't wear pink accessories throughout the season because there are no exceptions to the uniform policy, the Pittsburgh Steelers running back told ESPN on Monday night. 
 
 Williams, who lost his mother, Sandra Hill, to breast cancer in May 2014, dyed the tips of his hair pink instead. 
 
 DeAngelo Williams lost his mother, Sandra Hill, to breast cancer in May 2014. Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports 
 
 He wanted to wear pink shoes or pink wristbands throughout the year, not just during the traditional breast cancer awareness month of October, to honor his mother and those who have lost loved ones to breast cancer. 
 
 ESPN's Lisa Salters first mentioned the situation during the Monday Night Football broadcast. 
 
 How did the news make Williams feel? 
 
 "The same way it made you feel after you heard it -- like, man," he said. "He told me no. I'm assuming they are telling everybody else no as well. ... It wasn't about selling it. You know and I know and everybody else knows before I made the phone call." 
 
 Williams said he is purchasing 53 mammograms tests -- in honor of his mother's age when she died -- for a hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he played nine NFL seasons for the Carolina Panthers, and in Pittsburgh. 
 
 Williams told Salters: "It's not just about October for me; it's not just a month, it's a lifestyle. It's about getting women to recognize to get tested." 
 
 At least the hair passes the uniform test for Williams, who also has polished his toenails pink in the past. 
 
 "The hair, it's part of the uniform from the standpoint of being tackled, but it's not specific on what color it has to be or if it has to match the uniform," he said. 
 
 The NFL did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment on its decision. ||||| The woman who inspired her son to make the NFL wear pink has died. 
 
 Sandra Hill, mother of Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams, passed away Friday morning. After battling breast cancer – and fighting it off twice – Hill succumbed to the disease. 
 
 It was her struggle that led Williams to urge the NFL to have its players wear pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Now, it’s a common sight to see pink shoes, gloves and wristbands on the field during October. 
 
 Sandra Hill, @DeAngeloRB's mom, was the inspiration for the NFL allowing players to wear pink cleats back in 2009. — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 17, 2014 
 
 In 2011, Williams told the Panthers’ website: "Whether you’re directly or indirectly affected by it, you know what it means when you put on the pink. When I put it on, I wear it because of my aunts and my mom and for everyone that has been diagnosed and those that have beat it. 
 
 "I feel that those battling cancer are the real warriors and soldiers. They’re the ones we really wear pink for." 
 
 Words cannot explain the pain I feel for my good friend today! #Icldntimagine luv deangelowilliams http://t.co/OGtiHxGh88 — Mike Tolbert (@miketolbert35) May 16, 2014 
 
 
 

– "My hair is pink, my heart is pink, and my toenails are pink." That's the confession Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams offers in a video he posted to Twitter Sunday, and the reason he did so shows his heart is as large as it is colorful. He explains that he wears it to honor those who are fighting or have fought breast cancer—including his mom, Sandra Hill, who died of breast cancer at the age of 53 in May 2014, as well as four of his aunts who succumbed to the disease, Today reports. It was Williams who led the drive to allow NFL players to wear pink accessories (think pink cleats) during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, something the league has permitted since 2009, per Fox Sports. He tried to get permission from the NFL to accessorize with pink for the entirety of this season—a request that's been denied due to the league's uniform rules; his hair, dyed pink at the tips, apparently does not violate those rules. "Pink is not a color, it's a culture to me," he says in the video, which is accompanied on Twitter by the hashtag #WeAreInThisTogether. (A promising new study says a gene test can show which breast cancer patients need chemo and which ones don't.)