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In a rare moment of sound decision making, the NFL decided to dedicate Week 13 to the causes that are closest to their players. The league has allowed any NFL player to sport customized cleats that honor a charity or cause of their choosing.
We heard about this earlier in the year when Eric Ebron teased that he would have a customized pair of shoes in our interview with him from October. This week, we saw what he would be wearing, along with his teammates Marvin Jones and Haloti Ngata. Here’s a look at each of them.
Eric Ebron
#MyCauseMyCleats @MichaelJFoxOrg #RIPGrandad pic.twitter.com/w3EM24Pzjl
— Eric Ebron (@Ebron85) December 2, 2016
Ebron has a long history of supporting Parkinson’s research. Ebron’s grandfather passed from Parkinson’s disease in 2003. Since then, he has worked to raise money to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. In the past, he auctioned off his Christmas-themed cleats and he even wore other cleats to honor his grandfather earlier in the year.
The Michael J. Fox Foundation—which you can donate to here—expressed its appreciation to Ebron earlier in the week on Twitter:
.@Ebron85 will be wearing them at the @Lions game on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET! https://t.co/4r28CCX1k5
— michaeljfox.org (@MichaelJFoxOrg) December 2, 2016
Marvin Jones
Jones will be sporting these fresh kicks on Sunday to benefit City Year Detroit. Here’s what that charity does, according to the Detroit Lions website:
[..] an organization which unites highly-motivated, young adults from diverse backgrounds to engage in a year of full-time service as tutors and mentors to local youth.
City Year deploys these young people, called AmeriCorps members, in teams to high-poverty, urban schools to provide high-impact student, classroom and school-wide support. In Detroit, 71 AmeriCorps members serve in seven schools to support 5,000 students every day.
Like Ebron, this isn’t the first time Jones has teamed up with City Year. Earlier this season, Jones asked Lions fans to make a pledge of at least $1 for every Lions touchdown scored to help benefit the program.
For a player who just moved to the city of Detroit, it’s an extremely classy move of Jones to get involved in his new community. If you’d like to get involved in City Year Detroit, you can find more information on the organization here.
Haloti Ngata
Ngata will be wearing these cleats against the Saints to support his own charity, The Haloti Ngata Family Foundation. Founded in 2012, the Haloti Ngata Family Foundation focuses its efforts on improving “the lives of others through love and strength.” Each year, donations go toward a different theme. One year, the theme was education, in which the foundation raised money for camps and schools in need.
If you’d like to learn more about the Haloti Ngata Family Foundation or donate, you can visit the charity’s website here.