Yahoo Sports Marcus Mariota wore five sets of cleats on Thursday in honor of friend battling ALS
The NFL’s My Cause, My Cleats week is important to Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota because it’s a chance for him to raise awareness for ALS. Mariota has built a close connection with another University of Oregon student, Osiel Mendoza, who was diagnosed with the disease at 21.
In honor of Mendoza, who was in attendance, Mariota wore five pairs of cleats on Thursday for the Titans’ game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Marcus Mariota wore five different pairs of cleats on Thursday Night in honor of his @GoDucks friend battling @ALSTDI. Each pair was designed by high school students via @Nike contest.#MyCauseMyCleats | #TitanUp pic.twitter.com/rUS5fFo31k
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) December 9, 2018
Mariota partners with Washington high school
Mariota worked with a Vancouver, Washington, high school after his mother suggested having a student contest to design his cleats. King’s Way High School art teacher Justin Tigner, who met Mariota while volunteering at Oregon, helped organize the school-wide competition with 50 submissions.
Each student had two weeks to decorate the size-13 Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro 3s, which have since been auctioned off with proceeds going toward the ALS Development Institute.
The school and Mariota combined to pick the five top cleats with freshman Olive Mohammadi being named the winning entrant for her green and pink cleats with flowers from Mariota’s native state of Hawaii.
“I just wanted him, when he looked at it, to kind of think of his home or what he thinks is most beautiful about Hawaii,” Mohammadi said to KGW’s Lindsay Nadrich. “I didn’t think I was going to get picked.”
Mariota selected freshman Olive Mohammadi's design to wear in-game. She incorporated Hawaiian flowers to honor his hometown of Honolulu. More than 50 students at King's Way entered a contest. There were five finalists, two winners. https://t.co/mTjd4dQFQ9 pic.twitter.com/TtbjlE8mol
— Andy Buhler (@AndyBuhler) December 4, 2018
Student cleats end up being luckier
Mariota has worked with Tigner before to get custom cleats, making this connection easier. The fifth-year quarterback first took notice of Tigner last summer when Tigner commissioned a pair of custom cleats for the Titans’ October game against the Los Angeles Chargers in London.
Marcus Mariota’s pregame cleats customized by @JustinTigner pic.twitter.com/DlChllSmr6
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) October 21, 2018
The Titans ended up losing that game in a 20-19 heartbreaker, but Mariota had better fortunes with the students’ cleats. Tennessee crushed Jacksonville 30-9 largely thanks to running back Derrick Henry’s historic day, while Mariota went 18-for-24 passing.
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