Chiefs players wear customized cleats to support organizations of their choice in Week 13
ERIC BERRY
Leukemia Awareness
On Nov. 22, 2014, Chiefs Safety Eric Berry was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a cancer developed in the white blood cells. Through Berry's mental and physical toughness, and support from his family and team, he was announced cancer free within seven months and returned to the field just nine months after his initial diagnosis. His remarkable return earned him the AP Comeback Player of the Year Award following the 2015 season. Berry's journey and efforts to raise awareness of Hodgkin's Lymphoma stand as a monument of hope and strength for others experiencing hard times.
"I'm pleased with the design. Purple is my ribbon color, so that's why I chose purple. As far as the way I play, I can never sit here and tell you my pain and what I went through. I don't expect anybody to understand what I went through, just like I can't fully understand what somebody else went through. But, hopefully, through the way I play the game and the way I perform, people that are battling something or feel like they can't do it, hopefully they look at me and say, 'You know what? I can get up today,' or 'I will go to this treatment,' or 'I will give my best today.'"
DUSTIN COLQUITT
TeamSmile is the nation's premier advocacy group that partners oral health professionals with professional athletic organizations to provide life-changing dental care to underserved children in our communities. By partnering with professional sports organizations, TeamSmile creates an experience that develops bonds between children's organizations, oral health professionals, surrounding communities, and the athletes that solidify the message that oral health care is vitally important to long-term health.
CHRIS CONLEY
Enduring Hearts' mission is to fund important and innovative research to increase the longevity of pediatric heart transplants, and improve the quality of life for transplant recipients. The foundation gives priority to clinical research projects and new emerging technologies that focus on understanding the cause, development and prevention of human transplantation diseases, including organ injury and rejection, viral infection and late graft deterioration.
"Enduring Hearts is based out of Georgia and they work on not only funding, but research for pediatric heart surgeries and transplants. All these kids are getting a second chance and getting a chance at living the life that I was able to live. Over my time going through college I was able to go visit and meet a lot of kids, some who had had transplants and others who had cancer or different things that were going on in their lives, and I [wanted] to bring a smile to their face. So when I was approached by one of my friends that works for Enduring Hearts about helping them out this year, I was all for it. This is just another way for me to give back to the state that's done so much for me and to bring some smiles to those kids' faces."
On his friend that asked him to help their cause: "I went to Georgia with him. He actually does work with them now and asked me if I'd be interested and I said, 'Heck yeah, I'd be interested.' I just told him to let me know what I could do and when I heard about Week 13 and the way that we're going to be able to do this, I thought it was awesome. I thought it was an awesome idea—we'll wear the cleats and then we'll auction them off and it'll be nice."
On the friend's reaction when he learned what they were doing: "Steven Oaks. He was pumped. There's a handful of guys – a couple of us Georgia guys – that will all be doing it for Enduring Hearts. They were jacked that we were going to come together and that everybody could agree on doing this. You know everybody has different things they want to support and help, but the fact that guys came together and said that we're going to do it for Enduring Hearts, that's a big deal."
DERRICK JOHNSON
Derrick Johnson's Defend the Dream Foundation
Derrick Johnson's Defend the Dream Foundation was founded in 2012 with the mission to provide low-income and inner city youth with opportunities and resources to reach their full potential. One of Johnson's primary focuses is DJ's Discovery Den, which turns unused classroom areas into a reading oasis. Through a partnership with Scholastic, the foundation has been able to provide over 1,000 books to each Discovery Den. DJ successfully launched his 10th den this past week.
"I'm wearing special cleats for my foundation – Defend the Dream Foundation. My foundation caters towards inner-city kids through education. That's a big part of my passion and what I want to do as far as impacting the community through education and knowing that it's very important to making the younger generation's dreams come true. It's through education."
TRAVIS KELCE
87 and Running's mission is to empower and enrich the lives of disadvantaged youth. The foundation targets young people's potential through education, business, arts, science and athletics. It strives to provide these children much needed resources and guidance so they can be caring and productive members of society. Kelce hosts the annual Walk the Walk Charity Fashion show which pairs professional athletes and local Operation Breakthrough youth walking the runaway to raise funds for the foundation.
JEREMY MACLIN
The mission of the organization is to provide opportunities through charitable and educational efforts to kids in alternative living situations. This past Mother's Day, JMac Gives Back teamed up with Operation Breakthrough, a Kansas City non-profit, to give nine deserving Kansas City single moms a Mother's Day that they will never forget. Maclin asked local students to write a letter nominating their mother for the event and awarded the women and their children with a stadium tour which included several surprises throughout.
On what his cause is about: "Single mothers, stuff along those lines, and it's really something that I feel strongly about. This is something that I want to continue when I'm done playing. I always say that you're not reaching your full potential as a person until you reach out and help others, and what better way to help our youth? Our youth is our future, so I'm really excited about that."
On what it means to be able to do this: "It means a lot. The NFL is very strict when it comes to certain things, so I think it means a lot to a lot of the guys. I wish we could be doing it more often. I understand that it's a business and there are rules, but it finally gives guys a chance to express ourselves and tell the world who they really are and what they stand for. I think it's a pretty cool idea."
On the cleats: "They're dope, and I mean that in a good way."
MARCUS PETERS
Fam 1st Family Foundation is dedicated to uplifting and empowering youth in the Bay Area and throughout the United States. The foundation's mission is one of empowerment and education, aiming to build self-esteem and academic learning skills in underprivileged youth. Peters regularly mentors disadvantaged youth and helps facilitate youth football camps back in his hometown of Oakland, Cal. with Seattle RB Marshawn Lynch.
ALEX SMITH
The Alex Smith Foundation
The Alex Smith Foundation provides foster teens with the tools and resources needed to transition to successful adulthood by developing and promoting mentoring, education, housing, internship, job, and advocacy programs. Success has been found through the foundation's Guardian Scholars program, which not only provides a scholarship but also year-round housing and extensive individual guidance and support. In all, 23 former foster youth have graduated from San Diego State University, with a 78% graduation rate, significantly besting the national rate of 3% for foster youth. This success even convinced San Diego State to replicate it, affording another 205 foster graduates. Outside of the Guardian Scholars program, The Alex Smith Foundation partners with several other businesses in Kansas City to provide care to foster care youth including Minsky's Pizza and Cornerstones of Care.
ALBERT WILSON
The Albert Wilson Foundation
The Albert Wilson Foundation is committed to creating opportunities that will enhance the lives of youth in foster care. The Albert Wilson Foundation wants to change the destiny of foster children and break the cycle of abuse, neglect and abandonment. It strives to support youth during their transition in and out of foster care. Its goal is to provide scholarships to those wishing to continue their education outside the state of Florida, in addition to rewarding youth who continue to excel in the classroom and extracurricular, despite all obstacles and circumstances.
"They're all silver, red and black – that's our foundation colors. The red and black comes from my high school. That's where I met most of the people in my foundation, so it's mostly my high school friends that are on the board. The silver [represents] that you can shine no matter what. No matter how dark your situation is, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. So that's why they're mostly silver. Also, they have, 'Every child deserves a chance, every child deserves a home' logo – that's our logo. That's just how I feel going around to foster houses. It's tough out there to be a kid and be homeless, so I encourage kids, parents and people that have free time to dedicate their lives to a kid. I encourage everybody to go out there and do it. It also has the towns and cities that make up my area in the cleat. So it's a pretty good design and I think the guy did a great job.
"The Albert Wilson Foundation is to help foster kids, [similar] to the situation my sisters and I were in. We definitely have programs so that they can receive scholarships after they leave the foster care system."
On what it can do for his foundation: "Just the awareness—that's what it's all about. We're not trying to get any handouts or anything coming from the game. It's just an opportunity that we have to show awareness from my cleats and I'm glad that we have the opportunity to do it."
JAMES WINCHESTER
TeamSmile is the nation's premier advocacy group that partners oral health professionals with professional athletic organizations to provide life-changing dental care to underserved children in our communities. By partnering with professional sports organizations, TeamSmile creates an experience that develops bonds between children's organizations, oral health professionals, surrounding communities, and the athletes that solidify the message that oral health care is vitally important to long-term health.
On why Colquitt's foundation: "I think it's just a neat deal because of what they do and the services that they provide for the kids in this area. The amount of free dental work that they provide for kids and families is just really incredible. If you go to one of their events and see how many kids they help out and have a positive impact in their lives, you can't help but be on board with it. It's just such a great thing. The way they run those Team Smiles, it's really awesome. Dustin, obviously snapping the ball to him, he has me involved more so than others. It's a great organization.
"Dr. Bill Busch does a great job with that. Just to see that they've expanded Team Smile to so many other cities and sports teams and that guys in this locker room that have a connection to their hometown feel a desire to get a Team Smile started back in their hometown. Dontari talked about getting one started in Memphis, I don't know who they'll go through, whether it'll be the Grizzlies or somebody else, but they see the impact they see it has on kid's lives and they want to get that going. So props to Dr. Busch."
On what wearing the cleats will do for the organization:"Well I think Team Smile is already such a great organization and they [have] success that they already have throughout the NFL and through some other professional teams. I think it's really just about showing support for Team Smile and showing our involvement. I know several players that have gone through this locker room that are now with other teams – guys like Ryan Succop and other guys have taken Team Smile to that team. So just to show the support for Team Smile, Dr. Busch and what a great job they do with that. Just supporting it."
