Quarterback Marcus Mariota will be sporting unique footwear this Thursday during the Tennessee Titans game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Saint Louis graduate will be wearing a pair of customized cleats as part of the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats Program, which allows players to raise money for the charity or cause of their choice.
Mariota’s cleats were designed by Olive Mohammadi, a freshman student at King’s Way Christian School in Vancouver, Washington. Five student finalists were up for the honor in a school contest organized by teacher Justin Tigner, a longtime artist for University of Oregon Athletics who has designed several customized shoes for Mariota and volunteers at Mariota’s Motiv8 Foundation golf tournaments.
Following the game, Mariota’s cleats will be auctioned off online here, with proceeds to benefit ALS TDI (Therapy Development Institute), the world’s first and largest nonprofit biotech that focuses solely on ALS research. The runner-up cleats, which Mariota will wear pregame, will also be auctioned off. The remaining three cleats will be donated to various charities, including ALS Foundation of Hawaii.
Mariota chose to support ALS thanks to a friendship he developed at the University of Oregon with student ambassador Osiel Mendoza, who was diagnosed with ALS at age 21.
The Titans vs. Jaguars game airs on Thursday Night Football starting at 3 p.m. HST on KHON2.
