Athletes wear their hearts on their feet
Former Midshipman designs custom cleats for his fellow Navy grads now in the NFL
Former Navy football player Chris Wade discovered a unique hobby during the pandemic.
Forced to work from home for three months, Wade found time to explore a creative outlet that had always sparked his interest. The 2004 Naval Academy graduate began designing custom shoes and cleats.
After a year of refining his craftsmanship, Wade got ambitious and set a goal of designing cleats for former Navy football players on NFL rosters. He learned about the My Cause, My Cleats program that allows players to “reveal their passions beyond the game and wear their hearts on their feet.”
Wade reached out to Joe Cardona of the New England Patriots, Malcolm Perry of
the Miami Dolphins and Cameron Kinley of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during training camp this summer to pitch the idea of designing custom cleats for them.
“I knew we had some Navy Football Brotherhood members in the NFL, so I reached out to them about doing cleats,” Wade said. “I was fortunate to be able to connect with Joe, Malcolm and Cam and made a pair of cleats for all those guys.”
Perry’s cleats were made in Miami Dolphins colors since that was the team he was with at the time. The former record-setting quarterback at Navy turned wide receiver in the NFL was subsequently
cut by the Dolphins and claimed off waivers by the New England Patriots. He is currently on injured reserve and has yet to play in a game this season.
Kinley was released by the Buccaneers in August after the first preseason game and remains a free agent.
However, Cardona is now in his seventh season as the starting long snapper for the Patriots and wore the cleats designed by Wade during the season opener on Sept. 12. The 2015 Naval Academy graduate, who was New England’s fifth-round pick in that year’s NFL draft, went with a patriotic theme.
Cardona’s left cleat was recognition of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and featured numerous relevant elements. Imprinted on the heel was the “Don’t Forget” slogan with an image of the Pentagon. Also included on the left cleat were NYPD and FDYN in honor of the New York police and fire departments along with the words Honor, Courage, Commitment.
The right cleat honored the 13 service members killed during the Aug. 26 terrorist attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Wade imprinted the names of 11 Marines, as
well as the one Army soldier and one Navy personnel, who died. Also imprinted are the numbers 2/1 to represent the 2nd battalion, 1st Marines.
“There’s no question this weekend holds a lot of significance, especially for every service member and veteran that joined after 9/11,” Cardona told The Capital in advance of the season opener. “We said from the outset ‘Never Forget’ and we
choose to honor those that sacrificed that day and those that have continued to sacrifice over the last 20 years for our freedoms and the oppression of terror around the world.”
Cardona initially wanted both cleats to feature a 9/11 theme, but Wade suggested using the other to honor the service members most recently killed in Afghanistan.