‘My Cause, My Cleats’: NFL players wearing custom cleats explained in a 2-minute read

Week 13 in the NFL will feature more colors and personality than usual with many players opting to wear custom designed cleats. Usually that’s banned in the NFL and players sometimes show off custom cleats in warmups before switching to a standard pair.

But the league’s “My Cause, My Cleats” campaign allows for some creativity, self-expression and activism among NFL players.

The NFL started the campaign in 2016. It was a big hit in its debut with more than 500 players opting to wear cleats that supported the causes of their choice.

“One of the great NFL traditions is how our players passionately support important causes in their communities and around the globe every year,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “They are incredibly creative by nature so we are not surprised how they are seizing the opportunity this week with inspiring expressions of their charitable commitments on their cleats, online and through social media.”

The success of the week and the money raised for charity convinced the league to bring “My Cause, My Cleats” back in 2017 and, according to the NFL, there are more than 800 player participating this time around.

Cleats will be auctioned for charity. Each pair of cleats will be on NFL.com/Auction with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the charity of that player’s choice.

For example, Tom Brady’s cleats are supporting “The Ellie Fund” and “Best Buddies” in an effort to raise awareness for breast cancer and intellectual developmental disabilities. They also feature many other foundations and causes.

The auction will close on Dec. 31, but before the Patriots quarterback even took the field in Week 13, the bidding was already well into the thousands of dollars.

How did this campaign start? The NFL’s rigid uniform rules often resulted in fines for players who wanted to use their voice with what they were wearing. Many of the financial penalties came even when the players obviously meant well.

In 2013, then-Chicago Bears receiver Brandon Marshall was fined for wearing green shoes to highlight Mental Health Awareness week. Two years later, then-Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams was fined for wearing “Fine the Cure” eye black for breast cancer.

Things continued to get difficult for the NFL when six players wore patriotic cleats on the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Those players were not fined by the league.

By allowing an outlet for players to support causes, the NFL is able to better police the dress code in the other 16 weeks of the season and give players the chance to support causes punishment-free.