+
Most Shared

The NFL let players break a rule this weekend. About shoes. For a good cause.

Sports fan or not, here's something we can all cheer for.

In 2013, Brandon Marshall of the Chicago Bears took the field wearing bright green cleats — and was fined $10,500 for it.

He stood by his decision because he knew how important those green kicks could be to people watching the game. Two years prior, Marshall was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. He decided that during the Bears' Oct. 10 game that year — a nationally televised game against the New York Giants — he'd wear green cleats to draw attention to Mental Health Awareness Week.

$10,500 is the fine the league charged him with for violating its strict dress code.


Photo by David Banks/Getty Images.

"Football is my platform not my purpose," he tweeted in response to notice of his fine. "This fine is nothing compared to the conversation started & awareness raised."

The first weekend in December 2016, you may have noticed huddles looking less like this:

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images.

And instead, a lot more ... colorful:

The shoes of Andy Dalton, Rex Burkhead, and Brandon LaFell, all of the Cincinnati Bengals. Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images.

So what gives? Did every player get served a $10,500 fine for their colorful cause-worthy footwear?

On one hand, if players can use their gigantic platform and audience of millions to draw attention to a good cause, that's a good thing, right? On the other, the point of uniforms is to be, well, uniform with everyone else on your team.

It's actually part of a compromise worked out by the NFL and players like Marshall who want to draw attention to good causes. It's called #MyCauseMyCleats. For one week of the season, the league is giving players the chance to sidestep the league's uniform policy to wear customized cleats repping the cause of their choice.

After the games are over, these one-of-a-kind pieces of field-worn footwear are being auctioned off — with 100% of the proceeds going to the players' charities of choice.

Here are some of the super creative designs and the charities that inspired them:

1. Chris Conley of the Kansas City Chiefs supports Enduring Hearts, an organization aligned with the American Heart Association.

2. Eric Berry, also of the Chiefs, supports raising Hodgkin’s lymphoma awareness.

3. Jimmy Smith of the Baltimore Ravens sports cleats with the motto "Sideline Racism" for the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE).

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images.

4. Mark Ingram of the New Orleans Saints shows support for the Mark Ingram Foundation, an organization for children with incarcerated parents.

5. Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers reps Big Brothers Big Sisters cleats.

6. Marcell Dareus of the Buffalo Bills gives the American Heart Association his backing.

Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images.

7. Steve Smith of the Baltimore Ravens takes a stand against domestic violence.

8. Morgan Cox, also of the Ravens, supports the Colleen's Dream Foundation, an ovarian cancer research organization.

9. Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs supports his 87 and Running charity for disadvantaged youth.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images.

10. Rex Burkhead of the Cincinnati Bengals wears these cleats for the Team Jack Foundation against child cancer.

11. Johnny Hekker of the Los Angeles Rams reps Waterboys, an organization dedicated to providing clean water to people in East Africa.

12. Vance McDonald of the San Francisco 49ers supports Convoy of Hope, an anti-poverty organization.

Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images.

13. Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons honors Children's Healthcare of Atlanta with his footwear.

14. Von Miller of the Denver Broncos throws his support behind his charitable organization Von's Vision, which brings eye care to low-income children.

15. Golden Tate of the Detroit Lions gave a shout out to his Golden Future Foundation to supporting veterans.

Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images.

16. Pierre Garçon of the Washington Redskins highlighted his Helping Hands Foundation for people in Haiti.

17. Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks gave a boost to his Why Not You Foundation to support children.

18. Michael Thomas of the Miami Dolphins donned cleats during his pre-game ritual to call out police brutality.

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images.

19. David Johnson of the Arizona Cardinals took on bullying with his Stomp Out Bullying cleats.

20. DeAndre Hopkins of the Houston Texans used his footwear to call for an end to domestic violence.

21. Jason Pierre-Paul of the New York Giants drew attention to the Haiti Relief Fund.

Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images.

22. Roman Harper of the New Orleans Saints demonstrated his commitment to children's education and mentorship with a bump to his Harper's Hope Foundation.

23. Derrick Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs gave props to his Defend the Dream Foundation for low-income individuals.

24. Rodney McLeod of the Philadelphia Eagles helped out disadvantaged children with a shout-out to the Audience of One charity.

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images.

25. Shaq Lawson of the Buffalo Bills wanted to bring attention to cystic fibrosis with his shoes.

26. Julius Thomas of the Jacksonville Jaguars put a foot forward for Episcopal Children's Services.

27. Odell Beckham, Jr. of the New York Giants wore some cartoon-heavy cleats for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images.

28. Jarvis Landry of the Miami Dolphins showed support for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

29. And finally, Brandon Marshall, now playing for the New York Jets, laced up his green cleats to again bring some much-needed attention to mental health awareness — this time without a fine.

Marshall's shoe-based activism was cool when he got fined, but it's even better when the money raised goes toward helping his cause.

Hundreds of players across the league participated, teaming up with artists to craft the perfect messages in support of their cause of choice, and the results, as you can see, are phenomenal.

On the NFL's website, players shared personal stories about why they're passionate about the causes they've chosen to support. For some, it's a throwback to their own childhood or an illness facing a family member; for others, it's just about giving back to those in need. Creative approaches to bringing attention to positive causes is always a big win.

For a look at all the cleats, check out NFL.com.

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

Keep ReadingShow less

Dog does the 'pick a card' challenge and it's adorable.

There are a few kinds of dog parents: ones that only have outside dogs, those who have inside dogs but they're absolutely not allowed on the furniture and dog parents who treat their dog as if they birthed them themselves and give them every luxury invented for four-legged fur children.

Clearly, people are going to have feelings one way or the other about dogs and their place within a household, but I think everyone can agree that seeing a dog be pampered will always be adorable. Opie the Pit Bully is one of those lucky doggos who wound up living in the lap of luxury, and the pooch got to do a "pick a card" day to showcase that his owner loves him the mostest.

In a video uploaded to TikTok by Opie's owner because...ya know, opposable thumbs and all…Opie is faced with two cards that he can't read: 1) because he's a dog, and 2) because the cards are facing toward the camera. That doesn't stop the sweet puppers from playing along, though.

Keep ReadingShow less

A size 21 Nike shoe made for Tacko Fall.

A local reporter at Hometown Life shared a unique and heartfelt story on March 16 about a mother struggling to find shoes that fit her 14-year-old son. The story resonated with parents everywhere; now, her son is getting the help he desperately needs. It's a wonderful example of people helping a family that thought they had nowhere to turn.

When Eric Kilburn Jr. was born, his mother, Rebecca’s OBGYN, told her that he had the “biggest feet I’ve ever seen in my life. Do not go out and buy baby shoes because they’re not gonna fit,’” Rebecca told Today.com. Fourteen years later, it’s almost impossible to find shoes that fit the 6’10” freshman—he needs a size 23.

Keep ReadingShow less
Photo by David Cadenas on Unsplash

What we imagine the look on Mr/ Pickles' face to be after becoming a dad.

It’s been an exciting time for a couple of tortoises at the Houston Zoo—and really, for tortoises everywhere.

The zoo announced on its blog that their oldest resident, Mr. Pickles, a 90-year-old radiated tortoise, and his 53-year-old companion Mrs. Pickles (that’s quite an age gap there sir, but no judgment) recently welcomed three new hatchlings.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any better, here are the new baby names: Dill, Gherkin and Jalapeño.

Clearly, Jalepeño is the spicy one of the bunch.

While this news is certainly momentous for Mr. and Mrs. Pickles, it’s also a huge achievement for the entire species, which is currently critically endangered.
Keep ReadingShow less

Grace Linn, 100, speaks at a Martin County School Board meeting on March 21, 2023.

Four hundred years ago, copies of William Tyndale’s English translation of the Bible were publicly burned by the bishop of London, with church authorities insisting that the Bible should only be read in Latin (and only by the clergy). In the centuries since, many books we now consider classics such as Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe," Jack London's "Call of the Wild," Walt Whitman’s "Leaves of Grass," Victor Hugo’s "Les Misérables, Charles Darwin’s "Origin of Species"—even Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" and "Benjamin Bunny"—have been banned or censored in one way or another in various countries.

Battles over books are nothing new, but once in a while, they become particularly ugly or absurd, prompting people to speak out against book bans.

People like 100-year-old Florida resident, Grace Linn, whose speech at a Martin County School Board meeting has gone viral.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Tonight Show/ Youtube

Jennifer Aniston appearing on "The Tonight show"

Let’s face it, platonic relationships between men and women rarely get the same amount of attention as romantic ones, to the point where we debate whether or not they can actually exist in the first place.

That’s what makes a clip of Jennifer Aniston gushing about her decades-long friendship with Adam Sandler so cool to watch. There’s no Harry-Met-Sally-ing here, just one pal talking about another pal.

Aniston sat down with Jimmy Fallon to promote the film “Murder Mystery 2,” starring both Aniston and Sandler, but the conversation quickly veered into several anecdotes about “The Sand Man,” including how the two first met at a deli in their 20s.

As with any healthy friendship, there’s plenty of ragging on each other.

Keep ReadingShow less