Chris Perkins: Through custom cleats, Dolphins show what’s on their minds and in their hearts

MIAMI GARDENS —It’s not easy for Dolphins quarterback Mike White to go out to eat with his family. His 2-year-old daughter, Millie, has a peanut allergy. Consequently, they must always be aware, they must always be vigilant.

“It changes the way you think about things and, honestly, the way you live,” he said.

White is among hundreds of players across the NFL, and a few dozen Miami Dolphins players and coaches participating in the annual “My Cause, My Cleats” program this week. The program allows players to
promote causes that are meaningful to them with custom cleats.

Usually this column is reserved for on-field football stuff. And in a sense, that’s what this is because the cleats are on the field.

But going a step further, it’s always good to see players in a different light, more human, more personable and talk to them about things other than football.

The “My Cause, My Cleats” campaign helps in that respect.

Plus, the Dolphins have admirable diversity among their causes.

White’s cleats, which he’ll wear during the Dolphins’ game against Tennessee on Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium, represents FARE, which stands for Food Allergy Research & Education.

Similarly, offensive lineman Liam Eichenberg will wear cleats supporting Weish4Ever, The Andrew Weishar Foundation, which provides financial assistance to families with adolescents and young adults battling cancer. Andrew Weishar died of colorectal cancer in 2012. Andrew’s younger brother, Nic, was a tight end and Eichenberg’s teammate at Notre Dame.

“Nic was one of my close friends in college,” Eichenberg said. “I knew I always wanted to help support his foundation so I figured what’s a better time than now?”

Offensive lineman Robert Jones will wear cleats supporting Everytown for Gun Safety. He had an aunt who was shot and killed last month in his hometown of Chicago.

“I was thinking of doing gun violence from the beginning because I still have family in Chicago that’s going through it every day and I just want to uplift,” Jones said. 

On and on it goes.

Wide receiver Braxton Berrios is representing Paws4You Rescue, a no-kill, non-profit Miami-based animal rescue.

Kicker Jason Sanders, whose dad, brother and grandfather served in the military, is representing the Wounded Warrior Project.

Quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell is representing the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Running back Jeff Wilson Jr., who was in an accident in high school and lost a friend to drunken driving, is representing MAAD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).

Cornerback Justin Bethel is representing Save The Music, which helps students, schools and communities reach their full potential through the power of making music.

Safety Jevon Holland is representing Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer, whose mission is to change the lives of children with cancer through funding, impactful research, raising awareness, supporting families and empowering everyone to help cure childhood cancer.

Players and coaches are trying to make a difference, and they should be applauded.

“Obviously we’re very fortunate to have a lot of followers and people who support us and follow us on the day-to-day and throughout the season,” Eichenberg said. “I think it’s nice using our platform to kind of spread awareness and support certain foundations that we believe in and that are important to us.”

White has twin 2-year-olds: Millie, who has the peanut allergy, and her brother, Maddox.

“It’s interesting,” he said. “My son, no allergies; my daughter has a peanut allergy.”

It affects their lives, but it doesn’t rule it.

“Luckily, it hasn’t gotten to the point where it’s too bad,” he said of his daughter’s allergy.

“But it changes where we go on vacation, what we can and can’t go out to eat and all that stuff. You hear about food allergies, but until you know someone who is actually affected by it, you don’t really know the ins and outs.”

White’s wife, Mallory, came up with the idea to wear cleats for FARE.

“I’d been doing the Special Olympics for a while, but once we found out about my daughter’s food allergy we switched it to that,” he said.

It might seem to be a relatively minor thing, a peanut allergy. It’s not for the White family.

“One of the best places we’ve been to so far is Disney with allergies,” White said. “You order from a separate menu, the food comes out from a separate menu, on a separate tray and only one person is in charge of handling them. It’s just stuff like that. I do feel like it’s gotten better because most of the time the restaurants we go to they’re more aware of whether or not they’re peanut free. Some places don’t even know, which is kind of crazy to me.

“So, yeah, it’s a pretty big deal to us.”

It’s always good to see NFL players wearing other hats, so to speak, using their platform to spread the word about their concerns and interests. The “My Cause, My Cleats” campaign checks all the boxes.

“It’s amazing,” Jones said. “It’s great for being in the situation that we’re in and for us to be able to go out there and represent who we stand for, the things we love, the people we love, and be a voice for everyone who doesn’t have a platform like we do it’s amazing and I’m grateful for the opportunity.”