PR Jamal Agnew

Lions center Frank Ragnow was working out at the University of Michigan in early March when his mom called, frantic and sobbing, with news that Ragnow’s good friend, Brady Hed, had just been found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Ragnow left his workout immediately and made the 10-hour drive back to Minnesota to help the Hed family get through their unspeakable tragedy.

Hed’s father, Bryan, had been there for the Ragnows three years earlier when Ragnow’s father, Jon, died of a heart attack. Ragnow wanted to repay the favor to his dad’s best friend in his time of need.

“His dad means more to my family than anything in the world,” Ragnow said. “When my dad passed away, his dad, anything’s wrong at my house, his dad’s fixing it. He’s the most unselfish guy I’ve ever met. I have the utmost respect for him.”

Lifelong friends, Ragnow and Hed grew up a few towns apart in Minnesota but hunted and fished together regularly. Ragnow said Hed is the only friend he has ever taken to his remote cabin in Canada, and he still remembers “the excitement on his face” when he landed a 48-inch muskie one day while trolling for walleye.

As part of the NFL’s “My Cause, My Cleats” weekend, Ragnow wore cleats for Sunday’s game against the Vikings that honor Hed’s memory and bring awareness to suicide prevention.

Ragnow had his white, size-16 Nikes painted with all of Hed’s favorite things. There’s a big muskie covering the front of the left shoe. There’s a pool ball and bottle of Mountain Dew on the right shoe — “He liked to shoot pool a lot [and] he loved Mountain Dew,” Ragnow said — and Hed’s initials on the back.

After the game, the shoes were auctioned off, with proceeds benefiting the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention.

“It’s been tough,” Ragnow said. “It’s been very tough on his dad, it’s been very tough on his brother. It’s been tough on my family, [on] a lot of people around the situation.

“So just seeing that kind of made me choose the cause . ... It’s one thing to be able to talk about mental health and to try to be able to prevent suicide, but it’s another thing to be able to also help people affected by it. Seeing how people have been affected by it, I’d love to help prevent suicide and also help out.”

Ragnow said he had no idea Hed was having suicidal thoughts at the time of his death, and that’s part of why it has been so tough to understand.

Ragnow is still grieving and adapting to his new normal of life without his friend.

“It’s kind of the same thing with my dad,” Ragnow said. “Life goes on, so you get distracted by it. But when you really sit down and think about it, it’s still as fresh as ever, I feel like. That’s grief in general.”

And he wants others to know suicide is not the answer to pain.

“There’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” Ragnow said. “It’s not worth it. No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, no matter what’s going on in your life, people love you.

“And if there aren’t people who love you, there’s going to be people that you meet that are going to love you that’s going to make it worth it.”

Twenty-one Lions players and coach Matt Patricia took part in the “My cause, my cleats” weekend. Here are some of their stories.

QB David Blough

Charity: Jimmy V Foundation

Blough picked cancer research in honor of his friend, Tyler Trent, the inspirational Purdue student who died from a rare form of bone cancer in January.

“Tyler was going to use his life, regardless of circumstance, to impact others for the better,” said Blough, Purdue’s quarterback from 2015-18. “And in that was fundraising, was cancer research, donating to cancer research, so it was one of his goals. And so because of that I wanted it to be one of mine and use this opportunity to honor him.

“I knew the Purdue community would love it, so it was incredibly special to talk to his parents and figure out the design and figure out what we were going to do for it.“

Blough said he remains close to the Trent family, staying at their house when he visits the Indianapolis area. His shoes are painted in black and gold, Purdue’s colors, and have a picture of Trent on the right side.

“Picture a 20-year-old young man fighting through one of the most painful bone cancers that you can think of,“Blough said. “And through it all, he says rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances.

“Those are three verses out of the book of First [Epistle to the] Thessalonians. That’s what he believed and that’s what he was going to act, even if it didn’t feel OK. It says give thanks in all circumstances, not just when things are going well for you.

“And that was who Tyler truly was. He lived life in a way that was full and loving others and wasn’t going to let something bad happen to him to steal that from him.”

Charity: Detroit Lions Academy

For the last few years, Agnew has been heavily involved in the Lions Academy, an alternative middle school on the city’s east side, even giving the commencement speech in June.

“I see a little bit of myself in [the students],” said Agnew, who is from San Diego. “Just being young and black in America, growing up in split households, I did all that when I was younger.

“I know it’s hard for them. Definitely in the city of Detroit, it’s a lot rougher than where I grew up, so I can’t even imagine what they go through. I’m just trying to be here to help them get away from the harsh reality of just life in Detroit, in the city. I’m really passionate about it.”

The designs on Agnew’s shoes were drawn by students at the academy, a process Agnew sat in on last month.

“I just felt like it’d be a really cool idea just to let them express themselves, and then I have the platform to put that out there,” he said. “I think it’s beneficial for both parties.

“It was really cool. It was really fun sitting down with them, brainstorming together and just watching them work.”

LB Jahlani Tavai

Charity: Ocean Conservancy

Playing college football at Hawaii gave Tavai a different outlook on conservation.

“When I moved out there and I littered for the first time, it was after I drank a cup and I threw it down after a practice, and they were joking around, but I heard it multiple times after and it was like respect the Aina,” Tavai said. “And Aina means ‘the island.’

“They’re very spiritual people out there. To them, the island is more than just a home. I guess it resembles their gods and how we should respect the land, basically. It’s a great culture to learn if you have the time.”

Tavai said he chose ocean conservation as his cause as a way to educate people about a crisis that faces future generations.

“I think it’s a big factor in our lives that people take for granted and don’t realize how much a little thing like what they’re doing to the world, like plastic, you don’t realize how long it takes to break that down,” he said. “If [we] can prevent little problems like that, it’ll just create a domino effect. That was the main reason why I wanted to do it. It’s really a huge factor in our life.”

“His dad means more to my family than anything in the world. When my dad passed away, his dad, anything’s wrong at my house, his dad’s fixing it. He’s the most unselfish guy I’ve ever met. I have the utmost respect for him.”