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New dad Dawuane Smoot has attachment to his personalized cleats

Jaguars defensive end Dawuane Smoot's My Cleats, My Cause shoes. (Jamal St. Cyr, News4Jax)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On Sunday, players around the NFL will take the field wearing colorfully designed cleats supporting an organization of their choice for this year’s ‘My cause, my cleats,’ initiative.

When Jaguars defensive end Dawuane Smoot saw his cleats for the first time after practice on Wednesday, he was thrilled.

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“I love them. They are beautiful.”

Smoot’s cleats will support the Better Dads Society. A local organization in Jacksonville, “they are an organization that focuses on helping kids in underserved communities that don’t have dads,” Smoot said.

When asked why he chose to represent the Better Dad Society on his cleats this year, Smoot’s teammate Roy Robertson Harris chimed in saying, “because he is a better dad.”

Smoot became a nationally known father earlier this year after he helped his wife Aumari deliver their daughter, Ahlani. Now with two children of his own, this is an organization that is close to Smoot’s heart

“I’m a dad and every kid needs a dad at the end of the day,” he said.

Smoot became involved with the Better Dad Society when his wife, Aumari brought them to his attention.

“We donated to them earlier in the summer. They had a park get together for school supplies and we donated to them earlier this year.”

Smoot has also gotten his teammates involved in helping to bring awareness. During training camp, he brought in a box of shirts, getting the Jaguars defensive line group to take a picture together to help promote the Better Dad Society. Many of the players also made donations.

Smoot said he plans to continue to be involved with the Better Dad Society,

“For the future and beyond,” he said.

After Sunday’s game, the cleats will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to support the organization. Fans can bid on the cleats via the Jaguars’ My Cause My Cleats Auction from Dec. 8-18.


About the Author
Jamal St. Cyr headshot

Jamal St. Cyr is an award-winning sports anchor who joined the News4Jax sports team in 2019.

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