Chiefs CB Jaylen Watson’s ‘My Cause My Cleats’ shoes will pay tribute to his aunt
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- Chiefs will wear My Cause My Cleats Sunday to highlight players’ charity partners.
- Jaylen Watson will honor Best Buddies Missouri and raise Down syndrome awareness.
- Chris Jones and teammates promote Light the World Giving Machines and local groups.
As Morgan Freeman’s character “Red” asked in “The Shawshank Redemption,” “How often do you really look at a man’s shoes?”
Perhaps not so often, but there will be a special focus on footwear Sunday during the Chiefs’ game against the Colts at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
The NFL’s annual “My Cause My Cleats” campaign is this weekend.
Chiefs players will wear special cleats that highlight the charitable organizations they support. For some, that will be their own non-profits. Others are shining a light on special organizations.
Cornerback Jaylen Watson is among the latter. He is supporting Best Buddies Missouri. That organization says it offers “one-to-one friendship, leadership development and integrated employment programs for individuals with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in Missouri.”
The cause is personal to Watson, whose aunt has Down syndrome.
“Hopefully I could just bring more awareness to it,” he told me. “I mean, it’s always meant something to me, because it was my first aunt, and that’s when I first found out what Down syndrome was, and we’ve been taking care of her for forever. She’s 36 now.”
Watson noted that when his grandmother died, the care of his aunt fell to his mother and her other siblings. That gave him an opportunity to know his aunt well.
“Everyone took turns, my mom and her sisters,” Watson said. “She’s the second oldest. She’s older than my mom. But they always had to, you know, take care of her after my grandmother passed, so just been taking care of her.
“They’re the best people. My aunt is so sweet. They just like to have fun.”
Ashton Gillotte
Rookie defensive end Ashton Gillotte will be wearing two different kinds of cleats. One will support The Lord’s Kitchen Ministries and the other is for Place of Hope.
Gillotte grew up in Boca Raton, Florida, and got to know Place of Hope, which says it is “a faith-based, state-licensed children and families organization committed to bringing healing, stability, and hope to those in crisis. We serve children, youth, and families.”
Gillotte played college ball at Louisville and while there, he volunteered at The Lord’s Kitchen.
“First of all, I like the owners, they’re very godly people, very grounded, and they’re doing it out of the right place, because they do that like a food bank,” he said. “But they also offer like shelter to vets, people who are recovering from addictions and stuff like that. So they do a lot of good stuff, especially in Louisville, and so just meeting their owner and getting to know what they did, it’s kind of hard to not want to partner with them.”
Chris Jones
Defensive lineman Chris Jones is highlighting the Light the World Giving Machines. Those look like a normal vending machine, but people buy items that are given to folks in need. There will be one at Union Station.
There are a wide variety of things available to donate, including car seats for toddlers, groceries for a family, winter coats, prescription medicine and many other items. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ensures the purchased items get to those who need it.
“I did some out of the box thing this week,” Jones said. “Tammy Reid, they’re part of the Giving Machines and I’m partnering with them to promote the Giving Machines this week. So shoutout to Mrs. Reid, sparkle. ...
“I’m pretty excited about Sack Nation Foundation and the Giving Machines.”
Tammy Reid is married to Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 11:02 AM.
