MIAMI GARDENS -- The feelings are genuine and heartfelt. In some cases they're truly altruistic. In other cases they're deeply personal. The Dolphins, such as all NFL teams, are participating in the league's 10th annual "My Cause, My Cleats" campaign in Sunday's game against New Orleans, which features players raising awareness for charitable groups with colorful cleats.
Players were enlightening and passionate in talking about their non-profit causes. A total of 37 Dolphins players and coaches are scheduled to participate in the effort, and fans can bid on some of the cleats in an online auction.
Edge rusher Chop Robinson, whose older sister, Artese, died of lupus while he was in elementary school, is wearing cleats for Lupus Foundation.
"It's kind of only right that I put her name on the cleats and show off for her," said Robinson, whose cleats represented the same non-profit group last season.
Wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is wearing cleats for Destiny Rescue, a worldwide organization that helps rescue children from sexual exploitation and human trafficking. Westbrook-Ikhine and his wife have been working with Destiny Rescue for three years. He was part of a Bible study in Nashville when he was playing for the Tennessee Titans, and there was a presentation about Destiny Rescue on a week he was absent. He later watched a video of the presentation.
"It just tugged on my heart," he said. "My wife and I both have a heart for kids, especially the innocent and trying to do everything we can just to be the light and hands and feet of Jesus for them."
Defensive tackle Zach Sieler is wearing cleats for his Sieler Safe Haven Foundation that connects communities through outdoor education and athletic programs. Sieler, who grew up in the small town of Pinckney, Mich., likes sharing the experience of farming, fishing, hunting and being outdoors.
To that end, Sieler has a farm in Missouri where the foundation takes kids to enjoy the outdoors. They had a foster child from the Springfield, Mo., area last weekend. He shot a seven-point deer. The same child went out to the farm in the spring on a turkey hunt and didn't get a turkey. Getting the deer was a lesson in perseverance.
"It was really cool, the experience to have him out there and spend the day with him and reset," Sieler said. "It was beautiful."
Tight end Hayden Rucci is wearing cleats for Camp Corral, which supports children of wounded or fallen military heroes. This is Rucci's first year supporting Camp Corral. One thing the organization does is host weeklong camps at locations nationwide to help children of wounded or fallen veterans bond and cope.
"I think it's a pretty unique and interesting deal," Rucci said. "They do it all over the country. So I'm hoping that this summer when they do it, I'll be able to get to one of those camps."
Running back Jaylen Wright is wearing cleats for the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Miami-Dade County that provides mental health support, resources and education.
"Mental illness is something serious, especially in the sport that we play," Wright said. "It's something serious in general. You've got to take care of your brain. It's really important. Mental health is an issue that's going on. Suicide and all that and stuff like that. I just want to support that because mental illness is a hard topic to talk about. In the world that we live in, football players, we go through the same thing. I go through the same thing, too, so I just feel like it's a good thing to support."
Kicker Riley Patterson is wearing cleats for Young Life, which helps youth grow in their faith. It's a nationwide organization that Patterson described as "basically ministry opportunities for Christians, non-denominational."
"I was a part of it in Memphis as a leader, and it was a really, really amazing experience," he said. "I started getting discipled when I was in college by Jeff Jordan, an amazing man. And then you get your cup filled up, you learn how to be a Christian man, you learn about scriptures, find out all this information. You want to help out people that are younger than you, and this was the perfect opportunity for me to do so when I was in Memphis where I went to school. And that was the first place that I started leading. I've actually led in several places since then, like at Jacksonville when I was with the Jaguars, and then in Detroit when I was with the Lions. And it's a great organization."
You could say that for all of the non-profit groups that Dolphins players and coaches will represent Sunday.