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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Bucs to Support 50 Different Charitable Causes This Week Through the NFL's My Cause My Cleats Initiative

Players, Coaches and Staff to wear specially-designed cleats and shoes Sunday versus Minnesota

View pictures of the cleats and foundations represented by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during week 14.

This Sunday, more than 50 players and staff from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are participating in the NFL's My Cause My Cleats campaign, a league-wide initiative that offers teams the opportunity to promote charitable causes that are important to them through creative cleat designs. Buccaneers players and staff will showcase a wide variety of colors and designs supporting 50 different charitable organizations when Tampa Bay hosts Minnesota on Sunday, December 13 at 1 p.m.

This week, Buccaneers players will share images and the stories behind their custom designs using the hashtag #MyCauseMyCleats. Fans may visit the team's website at Buccaneers.com/MyCauseMyCleats for exclusive My Cause My Cleats images and videos, with new content being added leading up to Sunday's game. To help produce this year's cleats, the Buccaneers worked with artists Jason Hulfish (Grand Theming Studios), Marcus Rivero (Soles By Sir) and Eric Dorsey (iLLustratiVe Cre8ions).

Among the more than 50 Buccaneers participating is cornerback Carlton Davis III, a member of the team's Social Justice Player Board who has lost friends to gun violence. Davis will wear cleats supporting Safe & Sound Hillsborough to encourage community work that develops strong families, safe schools and healthy neighborhoods. Defensive lineman William Gholston is showcasing the names of 25 local students Buccaneers players and staff are mentoring this year through the team's Youth Leadership Program, a new component of the Buccaneers Social Justice Initiative. Center Ryan Jensen, the team's nominee for the NFL Salute to Service Award presented by USAA, will once again support the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), which provides comfort, care and resources to those grieving the death of a loved one who served in the military. Running back Ronald Jones II is raising awareness for a social justice cause that has directly impacted his family by showing support for Mothers Against Police Brutality. And tight end Rob Gronkowski will wear cleats to promote the Gronk Nation Youth Foundation dedicated to inspiring youth to reach their maximum potential through sports, education, community engagement and fitness.

On Sunday, Head Coach Bruce Arians will be wearing specially-designed sneakers to raise awareness for CASA/Guardian ad Litem, a focus of the Arians Family Foundation's mission to advocate for abused, neglected or abandoned children. Special Teams Coordinator Keith Armstrong, Defensive Coordinator Todd Bowles, and Assistant Head Coach/Run Game Coordinator Harold Goodwin will wear sneakers supporting RISE, the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality. Also supporting a cause they are passionate about are Owner/Co-Chairman Joel Glazer, General Manager Jason Licht, Director of Player Personnel John Spytek, Director of College Scouting Mike Biehl, Director of Pro Scouting Rob McCartney, Director of Football Administration Mike Greenberg, and Outside Linebackers Coach Larry Foote, who will be sporting sneakers in support of the National CMV Foundation. Spytek co-founded the National CMV Foundation with his wife, Kristen, in honor of their daughter, Evelyn Grace, who passed away from CMV in 2014. Offensive linemen Ali Marpet and Alex Cappa will also be wearing cleats to pay tribute to Evelyn Grace and the work of the National CMV Foundation.

This is the fifth-consecutive season that NFL players are raising awareness for non-profit organizations and causes on the field through the campaign, with a record number of more than 1,000 players throughout the league participating. My Cause My Cleats officially launched on Giving Tuesday – December 1 – leading up to the Week 13 games and continuing through Week 14.

Players have the option to raise funds for their cause of choice through auctioning their cleats on NFL Auction where 100% of funds raised will be donated to the charities they select. Fans may bid on player cleats at NFL.com/Auction and help raise funds for the causes nearest to their hearts. To learn more about causes and stories throughout the NFL, visit www.nfl.com/mycausemycleats.

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