My Cause My Cleats Campaign Gets Second Year Of Support From NFL, Players
By Barry Janoff
November 28, 2017: This weekend, for the second consecutive year, NFL players will be wearing their causes on their cleats via My Cause My Cleats, with specially designed shoes that will seek to raise awareness for cancer, autism, children’s diseases, Alzheimer’s, domestic violence, cruelty to animals and a plethora of other not-for-profit organizations.
Many of the participating players unveiled their cleat designs — from Nike, adidas and Under Armour — via social media today (Nov. 28) during a league-wide "Unboxing Day,” to coincide with the national support of “Giving Tuesday.”
The custom-designed cleats will be worn during various games during Week 13 of the regular NFL season, beginning with the the Washington Redskins visiting the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday Night Football (NBC, NFL Network, Amazon Prime).
According to the NFL, My Cause My Cleats “gives players the opportunity to personalize their cleats and raise awareness for the charities and foundations they passionately support. The initiative also gives players a platform to share their stories and why the causes are important to them.”
Following the games of Dec. 3 and the Monday Night Football game with the Pittsburgh Steelers visiting the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 4 (ESPN), cleats (some autographed) will be put up for auction on a dedicated Web site, with 100% of proceeds going to each player’s respective cause.
Some of the cleats hit very close to home.
Nate Solder (New England Patriots) has a drawing on his shoes of his son Hudson, who is battling cancer (with the quote "Tough like my dad"), along with support for The Jimmy Fund & Joe Andruzzi Foundation.
Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys) is putting a very personal message on his cleats — Fight Finish Faith — which he said were his mom’s nicknames for his older brother, middle brother and him, all to support the fight against cancer, specifically colon cancer that affected his mom.
Jalen Richard (Oakland Raiders) is supporting the American Heart Assn. “My grandfather and grandmother both died from heart-related issues.”
Nine players from seven NFL teams have selected Shriners Hospitals for Children as their charity of choice for the 2017 My Cause My Cleats initiative.
The list includes Ryan Allen (New England Patriots), Tyus Bowser (Baltimore Ravens), Anthony Chickillo and Bud Dupree (Pittsburgh Steelers), Alan Cross and Leonard Wester (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Todd Gurley (Los Angeles Rams), Charcandrick West (Kansas City Chiefs) and Anthony Zettel (Detroit Lions).
Following their games, players will autograph their cleats for auction at NFLAuction.nfl.com, with proceeds to benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children.
"My Cause My Cleats is an exciting and creative initiative," Gary Bergenske, chairman of the Board of Directors for Shriners Hospitals for Children, said in a statement. "We are proud to be included and grateful to all the players who support our mission to provide the highest quality health care to children in a compassionate and family-centered environment."
Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks) will wear cleats to support his Why Not You Foundation and his work at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital.
“I’m honored and blessed to be working with the NFL’s My Cause, My Cleats campaign to help bring awareness to charities close to my heart,” Wilson wrote on his Web site. “With the help of Nike, Strong Against Cancer, the talented Seattle-based artist Kate Neckel, and a few of my imaginative friends at the Seattle Children’s Hospital (which Wilson visits every Tuesday), we created a pair of special cleats whose story will strike a joyful chord in our hearts for many generations to come.
“My cause is the Why Not You Foundation, where our mission is to empower change in the world, one individual, one child at a time.”
The Chicago Bears said they have 31 players participating, supporting 31 causes, That includes Pat O’Donnell honoring Cleveland Clinic South Florida, where his father, Terry, received treatment for colon cancer before passing away in September at the age of 61 after an 11-year battle with the disease.
See the participating Bears players here.
On the Washington Redskins, D.J. Swearing is raising awareness for Fight Fibromyalgia. Swearinger said both of his sisters have suffered from Fibromyalgia, with the youngest being just recently diagnosed.
Teammate Ty Nsekhe is supporting the Ty Nsekhe Foundation, which has worked with police officers across the country with the aim to improve relationships between law enforcement and the public.
And Redskins Junior Galette is raising awareness for Hope For Haiti. Galette grew up in Haiti and said that “even seven years after the devastating earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people, the country still deserves all the aid it can get.”
See the list of participating Washington players here.
The Jacksonville Jaguars said they would have 41 players wearing custom cleats for My Cause My Cleats.
That includes Blake Bortles (Blake Bortles Foundation), who said, “I have an extreme passion to help first responders as well as the mentally disabled."
And Leonard Fournette (Crime Prevention and The Jaguars Foundation). “Where I’m from in New Orleans, crime i too common. It hurts so many innocent families on a daily basis.," said Fournette.
See the list of participating Jacksonville players here.
Cowboys Chris Jones will wear Team Brock cleats dedicated to the memory of Brock Fleming, “who died late last year after months of battling a rare form of brain cancer (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma), an inoperable brain tumor at the base of the brain. It is the only known form of pediatric cancer declared terminal upon diagnosis.”
See the unboxing by participating Dallas players here.
Three players on the Buffalo Bills — Eric Wood, Dion Dawkins, Preston Brown — asked kids in Oishei Children’s Hospital of Buffalo to help design their cleats. (See the effort here.)
Among players on the Denver Broncos participating in My Cause My Cleats, Von Miller is boosting Von’s Vision for lupus awareness. “I am empowered to help children with the gift of sight,” he said n a statement. “For lupus, the cause empowered me to do something for my brother, who has lupus.”
Denver’s Max Garcia is supporting Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
“Colby Young, son of (former teammate and current Atlanta Falcons defensive line) coach Bryant Young, passed away from brain cancer in 2016," said Garcia. "My best friend’s daughter, Kimmora, was diagnosed with brain cancer and is still fighting hard. I want the stories of Team Colby and Kimmora Strong to be heard."
Shane Ray of the Broncos is honoring American Diabetes Assn. and Rays Awareness. “I have a responsibility given my platform to give to those without a voice and opportunity. Rays Awareness gives me that platform. My family has been affected by diabetes and I’m also a proud #TeamTackle ambassador for them.”
Broncos teammate Isaiah McKenzie, who is putting on his cleats the The John A. Hartford Foundation (elderly care) along with photos of his grandmother, summed up the feelings of many of his NFL peers. “My grandmother was the sole person (who) raised me and through that, her friends — who were much older than me — became very important to me and I saw so many struggles the elderly face.”
To bid on My Cause My Cleats items, go to NFLAuction.NFL.com.