Pierre Garcon cleats

Normally, the NFL’s uniform code is incredibly strict and restrictive, even when it comes to cleats. That’s how and why we’ve written stories on the numerous fines Antonio Brown has received this year for his creative footwear, for example.

But for this week only, the NFL has allowed players to wear custom cleats in order to showcase the causes or charitable foundations that they support, which is a good gesture from the league (but should be allowed more often than just one week out of a season). There are some particularly interesting ones, and with some help from Paul Lukas at UniWatch, here are ones that are the most interesting both visually and with respect to the causes.

When Von Miller and the Broncos take the field in Jacksonville this Sunday, Miller’s cleats will support his own charity called Von’s Vision, which helps provide low-income children in Denver with needed eyewear. The design is based on the charts you see in every doctor’s office, and is pretty powerful.

These are Pierre Garcon’s cleats which he’ll sport when Washington travels to Arizona. His charity supports many things in his native Haiti, including education, health and community programs. This cause is particularly powerful as the country continues to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Matthew which hit the country back in October.

Garcon’s teammate Vernon Davis has some colorful cleats which he’ll be sporting on Sunday. He is supporting his own charity which promotes art education and appreciation for under-privileged and needy youth. The paint splatter motif does well to highlight that, as well as the paint tube.

Another Washington player who’s come up with some interesting footwear is quarterback Kirk Cousins, who’s donning custom cleats for global non-profit International Justice Mission. The non-profit works to protect the poor in the developing world from violence, including cybersex trafficking. Here are the cleats Cousins is going to wear:

There are many other causes which will get highlighted over the weekend, and many other interesting stories to tell with the footwear that all players will wear on Sunday. Even though the NFL often looks tone deaf in situations like this, we can suspend our cynicism for a little bit at least to enjoy what the league is doing this weekend.

[ESPN]

About Matt Lichtenstadter

Recent Maryland graduate. I've written for many sites including World Soccer Talk, GianlucaDiMarzio.com, Testudo Times, Yahoo's Puck Daddy Blog and more. Houndstooth is still cool, at least to me. Follow me @MattsMusings1 on Twitter, e-mail me about life and potential jobs at matthewaaron9 at Yahoo dot com.

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