Denouncing gun violence. Macklemore tipping off Pete Carroll. The Seahawks show off causes

Coby Bryant’s cause is to prevent what happened to his best friend since grade school.

Dailyn Ferguson was shot and killed in his hometown of Cleveland on Mother’s Day of this year.

“That was pretty rough,” Bryant, the Seahawks’ rookie defensive back, said, and then I chose to do Ohio Coalition of Gun Violence because that’s where I am from.

“This tragedy was very important to me and my family.”

Poona Ford chose the Play Like A Girl movement on one shoe — “for my daughter,” Kinzley, who turned 1 last month —and the National Breast Cancer Foundation on the other.

“My mom (Tomeka) beat breast cancer,” Seattle’s big defensive tackle said.

Quarterback Geno Smith’s special red shoes represent his 7Sunday Heroes. His foundation hosts underprivileged kids at Seahawks home games, and helps them throughout the year in his hometown of Miami and in Seattle.

“I was raised by people who were giving back, and I feel like it’s something that I enjoy doing,” the 32-year-old Smith said.

Rookie first-round draft choice Charles Cross was at his locker proudly showing off his custom cleats he’ll wear Sunday when the Seahawks (6-5) play the Los Angeles Rams (3-8) in Inglewood, California. The sky-blue-and-yellow shoes are for his home-state Mississippi chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

“I think it’s really important for people to know about this,” Cross said.

“And I love how they came out,” the left tackle said, looking down at his snazzy, size-16 art works.

Safety Ryan Neal (Indiana) and offensive lineman Kyle Fuller (Texas) also have chosen to represent their home state’s NAMI chapters.

They are among 31 Seahawks players wearing their cleats for their causes on the NFL’s annual My Cause My Cleats weekend.

Macklemore tipped off Pete Carroll

Coaches and executives are participating, too.

Pete Carroll is representing the Teaching for Black Lives education program. Jesse Hagopian, an ethnic-studies teacher at Seattle’s Garfield High School, started it before 2018. Teaching for Black Lives has grown has 228 study groups and almost 4,000 teachers reaching 650,000 students nationwide.

Rap-star Macklemore alerted Carroll and the Seahawks to Hagopian’s home-grown program a couple years ago. The coach characteristically dove right in. That matches the lead Carroll took with his players throughout the summer of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in a street by a white Minneapolis police officer.

“It’s been important to me for forever,” Carroll said, “but we found that someone was really proactively going about it and seeing the need to create curriculum that can be passed around.

“It started here in the area. Jesse Hagopian was the guy that got it done for Garfield High School. It’s all over the country, so we are really proud of that. It’s a new subject matter that needed attention to send good messages.”

Team president Chuck Arnold, Tacoma born and raised and a graduate of Curtis High School, has the American Cancer Society as his cause. General manager John Schneider is wearing shoes for Ben’s Fund, his and his wife’s foundation for supporting families dealing with autism, again this year.

Seahawks safety Joey Blount lost “my little brother,” former University of Virginia teammate D’Sean Perry, Nov. 13 when Perry and two other UVA football players were shot and killed on campus. Blount attended Perry’s viewing and funeral in Miami last weekend. He then played the day he returned for the Seahawks against the Raiders.

His new cleats have “UVA Strong” and the Cavaliers jersey numbers of Perry, Devin Chandler and Level Davis Jr. on them.

“It’s put a halt on football,” Blount said. “It’s put a value on, what’s your meaning of life?”

Running back Ken Walker played football and ran on the same track relay team with Chandler, at Arlington High School in Tennessee. Walker’s cause for this week is LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis. But his higher-top cleats include the likeness of a smiling Chandler, his number 15 and “Long Live Devin Chandler” in white script over UVA blue and orange.

Linebacker Cody Barton’s cause is Yellow For Life, a student organization at Barton’s alma mater the University of Utah in his home state. Yellow For Life is affiliated with The FMK Foundation, a nonprofit striving to empower those living with mental illness and suicide ideation.

Barton’s cleats for Sunday are blue and gold, with the motto “I SEE YOU. I HEAR YOU. I CARE” printed on them.

Not “shut up and play”

The list of players with their causes is as diverse as it is important.

It’s another example of modern professional athletes using their undeniable platforms to raise the awareness of the millions who listen to and emulate them. Through the shoes, the players want fans to think about more than just sports.

Pro athletes have come a long way from Michael Jordan. “Shut up and play” just doesn’t work for them.

“Yes, sir. I really think it is important,” Smith said. “I think it is something that we all have to be mindful of. The platform that we have, the words we say, and the things we do, they all reflect not only on ourselves, but on our community. We have to be extremely mindful of it and use it to be beneficial, so the platform is great to have. If you don’t use it in the right way, I think it goes to waste.”

The 71-year-old Carroll has been coaching since the Vietnam War. He’s seen athletes go from silent on societal issues to the forefront of advocating for them in our country.

He says technology and the internet have changed the players, for the better.

“It goes right along, I think, with the opportunities, and media, and how much more access our guys have in a number of ways — from their personal podcast to their personal work,” Carroll said.

“I mean, it always takes the love in your heart to want to help others. I think that’s always been there. The access has become so much different, and guys have realized that they have a chance to speak out.

“Some guys do it better than others. I think it’s a marvelous tool and statement about our guys on how they care about the people they love, and the home grounds, and even when they work in their own communities. But it has grown tremendously.”