DK Metcalf is in the midst of his first season with the Steelers. After spending the beginning of his career with the Seahawks, the All-Pro wideout was traded to Pittsburgh this offseason and signed a massive $150 million extension upon arriving in the Steel City. It hasn’t been all smooth sailing since the season began, though; Metcalf has 45 catches for 605 yards and five touchdowns through 12 games while the Steelers’ offense struggles to find its footing each week.
On Sunday, however, Metcalf was able to demonstrate his dedication off the field by way of the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats campaign. For those unfamiliar, the initiative was created to give players around the NFL an opportunity to bring attention to their preferred charitable cause by wearing custom-made cleats for a game. Metcalf participated in My Cause My Cleats during his time in Seattle but, as it is his first season wearing black and yellow, the team’s Week 13 game against the Bills represented his first opportunity to wear special cleats in support of the Pittsburgh community.
He chose to team up with the Call of Duty Endowment. Founded by the famous Call of Duty video game franchise, the endowment’s mission is to support military veterans by identifying and funding “the most efficient and effective organizations that get unemployed veterans back to work.” The organization has teamed up with NFL players for My Cause My Cleats in the past, including a fellow AFC North receiver in Zay Flowers for the 2024 season.
For 2025, Metcalf teamed up with the endowment. He spoke with Sports Illustrated in an exclusive interview about the partnership and said he’s a big Call of Duty player; playing the game helps him decompress and keep in touch with teammates and friends alike. But the wideout also believes the mission was an important one to bring attention to.
“I'm a huge ‘Call of Duty’ fan off the rip, so when this opportunity came across, I just had to jump on it,” Metcalf told SI. “But I found out that Call of Duty Endowment basically just helps veterans incorporate themselves back into the workforce. I thought it was something that a lot of us don't think about on the daily. And I know (getting back into the workforce) is something that veterans don't think about while they're in the service, whether that be Army, Air Force, whatever the case may be. So I thought I'd just just bring awareness to it, since it's something that none of us think about.”
For My Cause My Cleats, the endowment partners the player in question with a veteran from the team’s local community. In Metcalf’s case he was partnered with former Air Force Staff Sergeant Capri Thompson. Metcalf’s cleats, designed by Dez Customs, were designed to embody an Air Force jet, complete with nose art near the toe. It included a name plate with “Thompson” emblazoned on it and the inside of the cleat had X’s and O’s as a nod to Thompson’s current role as a high school football coach. Metcalf was able to meet up with Thompson at practice before hosting him at Sunday’s game; Thompson, a former high school quarterback, told Metcalf he wished he could throw him a touchdown pass.
“Mr. Capri Thompson was a real cool dude,” Metcalf said. “The cleats, he said, even looked like the jet that he had in the Air Force. It was just a good opportunity to meet him and chop it up with him for a little bit. I thought they looked awesome. And they felt comfortable and looked good.”
“With the way that the NFL has it laid out, I think they've done a great job with highlighting different causes and bringing light to different voiceless (groups) or people that don't get a lot of attention on the daily,” he said. “I think the players have done a great job taking advantage of the platform just to shoot out any messages or bring any light to any calls that I think they might want to bring light to. Like I said, this is just another one that I felt a a need to do.”
Metcalf’s custom cleats will be auctioned off and all proceeds will go directly to the Call of Duty Endowment.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Steelers Star DK Metcalf Gives Background on This Year’s My Cause My Cleats Campaign.
