For the third year in a row, the NFL is encouraging players to participate in the My Cause, My Cleats campaign. The program allows players to wear customized cleats designed to reflect their commitment to charitable causes. Nearly 800 players participated in the 2017 campaign for all different causes. It's an opportunity to raise awareness for a lot of lesser-known charities or rare diseases and in 2018, the Buccaneers are taking the opportunity and running with it.
A total of 51 players will be representing charities of their choice on their cleats on Sunday, December 2 as the Bucs take on the Carolina Panthers at home. Tampa Bay has the highest participation rate of any team in the league with that number and dozens of charities that hit close to home are represented. Whether it's players like Mike Evans, Gerald McCoy, Jameis Winston or Vinny Curry, who are representing their own foundations, or players like Cameron Brate, Justin Watson or Lavonte David that are supporting well-known organizations, each player has a personal reason for their choice.
While "Unboxing Day" isn't until Wednesday, take a look below at which players are supporting which causes. Yes, all 51 of them.
Andrew Adams – Moffitt Cancer Center
Kwon Alexander – Kwon Alexander Foundation
Beau Allen – The Chris Long Foundation
"I've gotten to know Chris Long a lot. I played with him in Philly. As a teammate, as a friend, as a person, he does a lot of really great things. Waterboys is the clean water initiative and I've been involved with them in the past but another thing I'm involved with is a literacy initiative that Chris is doing, as well. For the away games he's playing in, he finds a player on each different team and secure donations from them and match it for a literacy campaign in that city. So that's a big part of the My Cause, My Cleats initiative as well."
Bryan Anger – Bryan Anger's Project Restoration Foundation
Antony Auclair – Shriner's Hospital for Children
Peyton Barber – Starting Right, Now
Caleb Benenoch – Warrick Dunn Charities
Cameron Brate – Special Olympics
Alex Cappa – National CMV Foundation
Jack Cichy – Alzheimer's Association
Alan Cross – Shriner's Hospital for Children
"My papaw was a Shriner, my dad was a Shriner. They're both 32ndDegree Masons, so that's really the main reason while I'm doing it. It's for the children that go into the hospitals that fight every day. It's a real blessing to make that a point of emphasis during an NFL game."
Vinny Curry – Vinny Curry's Rush2Victory Foundation
"The Rush2Victory Foundation is my foundation to help kids' education and bringing back imagination. When you were a kid, imagination was everything. Now with social media, kids aren't using their imagination as much, so we want to bring that back."
Lavonte David – Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America
Carlton Davis III – Safe and Sound
Javien Elliott – The Heart of Cager Foundation
Justin Evans – Metropolitan Ministries
Mike Evans – Mike Evans Family Foundation
Ryan Fitzpatrick – National Compassion Fund benefitting victims of the Jacksonville Landing shooting
Will Gholston – Champions for Children
Chris Godwin – Best Buddies
Ryan Griffin – The C4 Foundation
Vernon Hargreaves – Wounded Warrior Project
Demone Harris – Gerald McCoy's Patricia Diane Foundation
O.J. Howard – O.J.'s Got Da Juice Foundation
Tanner Hudson – After School All-Stars
Adam Humphries – Operation Get Right or Get Left
DeSean Jackson – DeSean Jackson Foundation
Ryan Jensen – Show Your Soft Side
Isaiah Johnson – Humane Society of the United States
Ronald Jones – American Heart Association/Sickle Cell Disease Association of America
Michael Liedtke – American Hearing Research Foundation
Cameron Lynch – Uplifting Athletes – Syracuse University
"During My Cause, My Cleats, I have decided to support the mission of Uplifting Athletes and the 30 million Americans affected by rare diseases. Approximately 50 percent of people affected by rare diseases are children and I am proud to help spread the word so that those battling rare diseases know they are not alone."
Ali Marpet – National CMV Foundation
Gerald McCoy – Gerald McCoy's Patricia Diane Foundation
Carl Nassib – Penn State THON
"THON is a great organization that started at Penn State and raises money for pediatric cancer. They raise tens of millions of dollars every year. It's a stellar fundraiser and I couldn't be more happy to be part of it."
Rakeem Nunez-Roches – Startng Right, Now
Dare Ogunbowale – Special Olympics
Jason Pierre-Paul – Children's Burn Foundation
Jacquizz Rodgers – Epilepsy Foundation
Garrison Sanborn – Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation
Donovan Smith – Autism Speaks
Evan Smith – Jackson in Action 83 Foundation
Ryan Smith – Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay
M.J. Stewart – Epilepsy Foundation
Vita Vea – Tampa Bay Buccaneers Foundation
Justin Watson – Make-A-Wish Foundation
Leonard Wester – Samaritan's Purse
"The cause is through an organization called Samaritan's Purse and it's Operation: Heal Our Patriots. I've had some family members in the military but realistically it's just about being able to give back to people that have given so much to us. The cause is basically funding for couples who have experienced PTSD and sending them to Alaska and just allow them to work on their marriage and be out in nature. It's a retreat that if their marriage is kind of broken, tries to heal them in any way that they can. The biggest thing is just letting them know that people love them, people want to be there for them and see them succeed. That's why I wanted to get involved."
Jordan Whitehead – American Cancer Society
Bobo Wilson – The Spring of Tampa Bay
Jameis Winston – Jameis Winston's Dream Forever Foundation
For more information on the campaign, visit the NFL's website.