The Sports Xchange

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward and the NFL reached a settlement on fines for his eye-black tributes to his late father, Craig “Ironhead” Heyward.

Multiple media reports indicated that the league agreed to reduce the amount of his fines, and Heyward subsequently announced that he would no longer put the words on his eye black.

“I consider myself a team player and someone who puts others before myself, and I don’t want to be a distraction to my teammates or the Steelers organization,” Heyward wrote on his Twitter account. “With that, I will not be writing on my eye black going forward anymore. I will be honoring my father in other ways on and off the field.

“I will continue to wear plain eye black and that gesture will always be in memory of my Dad.”

Craig Heyward, an NFL fullback for five teams from 1988-98, died of cancer at age 39 in 2006. His son put “Iron” under one eye and “Head” under the other during an Oct. 12 game against the San Diego Chargers, drawing a fine of $5,787 from the league for violating the uniform policy.

When Cam Heyward repeated the tribute Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, he was due to be docked $11,576 as a two-time offender.

Heyward announced Tuesday that he is teaming with EyeBlack.com to sell “Ironhead” eye black to benefit his foundation, The Heyward House. Money then will be donated to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and to the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation.