pretty cool...
MY CAUSE, MY CLEATS. This weekend, a few NFL players will be donning special cleats to promote causes that are dear to them. Denzel Ward is one of them, wearing his to promote heart health awareness after his father died of a heart attack in 2016.
From SI.com:
“Representing this cause is in my dad’s name. Before he passed away in 2016 from a heart attack, he had a motto he used to always say: ‘Make them know your name.’ Either on the football field, or in the world, impacting people in a positive way and doing things to make the world know your name.”
“I want to bring awareness to heart health, preventing heart attacks and educating people on using things like an AED (automated external defibrillator) to help resuscitate people who may be going through a heart attack. My dad had his heart attack during a spin class, and there was actually a defibrillator there at the facility, but it was sitting on the wall and no one used it. So, more training, more devices and more educating people on how to use a defibrillator. It’s not very hard to use it, so just educating people and giving them confidence so they’re not afraid to use it. If someone would have used it on my dad, he could have had a chance to still be alive.”
“My dad motivates me every day. That was my best friend, someone who I wanted to make proud throughout life. He was a school principal, so that’s what he was all about, giving back and doing whatever he could to change peoples’ lives. I remember that his funeral was packed with all the people he had impacted—the kids he had worked with, teachers, friends. He made people know his name, and that’s what motivates me.”
The cleats themselves are pretty fantastic:
Back in the olden days, they used to fine players for wearing cleats that flashy. Now, they're promoting it as a cause. I sure ain't mad about it.
