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The NFL is often mocked as being an acronym for “No Fun League.”
Aside from poo-pooing celebrations, one of the bigger complaints about the NFL’s crackdown on fun is their rigid dress code.
Players are often fined for wearing shoes or other non-approved, non-color matching items.
The league has relaxed their fine-heavy ways when it comes to Sept. 11 and for Week 13, the league is relaxing the dress code for another great reason.
Sunday will mark the inaugural “My Cleats, My Cause” campaign. Players have been allowed to design and wear custom-made cleats that support a cause of the player’s choosing. They will wear the cleats and then they will be auctioned off to support the charity.
According Zach Zaidman, four Bears will be participating in the campaign:
Acho, Houston-Carson, Howard & Scales are the four #Bears participating in NFL's first "My Cause, My Cleats" campaign this week.
— Zach Zaidman (@ZachZaidman) November 29, 2016
Rookie running back sensation Jordan Howard will be wearing slick white, teal and green cleats to support the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. Pulmonary Fibrosis took the life of Howard’s father in 2007. For more on that see this Chicago Bears team site article.
Excited to wear these cleats for #MyCauseMyCleats during week 13 to represent my dad and the @PFFORG #Cleathead @adidasFballUS pic.twitter.com/FBxfgEtnV3
— Jordan Howard (@JHowardx24) November 29, 2016
Linebacker and special teams player Sam Acho will be wearing raising awareness to Living Hope Christian Ministries, an organization started by his parents, who travel to their native country of Nigeria every year to provide free medical care.
I can't wait to rock these cleats this Sunday to help build a clinic in Nigeria #MyCleatsMyCause #nfl https://t.co/omGtcjOyCJ pic.twitter.com/DoqN9Pbcyh
— Sam Acho (@TheSamAcho) December 1, 2016
Long snapper Patrick Scales cause is the Colleen’s Dream Foundation, which supports efforts for research into early detection of ovarian cancer. No photo of his cleats could be found.
DeAndre Houston Carson is mentioned in Zaidman’s tweet but I cannot find anything else mentioning him or his cause.
Overall though, this is a very cool thing that the NFL is doing and allows players to show more of their own personality all for a good cause.
Other players with Bears ties participating include Brandon Marshall, who will of course be wearing cleats for mental health awareness and his foundation Project 375, Greg Olsen will be supporting his son, who survived a heart defect as an infant and the HEARTest Yard Initiative and OL Kyle Long’s brother Chris will be supporting his Waterboys cause, which provides clean drinking water to communities in East Africa.
To see more photos of the cleats and the causes across the league check out the My Cleats My Clause page on NFL.com.