Eagles’ Shaun Bradley uses NFL’s My Cause My Cleats initiative in support of Roxborough victim

When the Eagles’ Shaun Bradley heard about the shooting at Roxborough High School, he remembered a former Temple football teammate that went there. Bradley’s initial thought was, “A couple of years earlier, that could have been the person I knew.”

Following a junior varsity football scrimmage between Roxborough, Northeast High School, and Boys’ Latin Charter School on Sept. 27, five gunmen unleashed more than 60 shots at five young football players, killing 14-year-old Nicolas Elizalde of Havertown, Pa. and injuring four other teens.

Philadelphia has faced an overwhelming number of homicides by guns this year with 1,720 wounded by a bullet and 441 victims fatally shot. It’s become a cruel reality that Philly residents have endured, with many dealing with the trauma of losing a neighbor, a friend, or even a family member.

“It divides and breaks down the community,” said Eagles edge rusher Haason Reddick, a Camden native. “The simple fact that somebody is losing a loved one. A mother losing a child or somebody losing a father or sister — at the end of the day, somebody just lost a family member to gun violence. Most definitely the issue could have been resolved in a different way.”

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Eagles players have taken notice, and some wanted to shed light on the issue. Through the NFL’s annual My Cause My Cleats week, players across the league are wearing customized cleats with proceeds going toward a charity they have chosen to support.

For the artist designing the cleats, it’s about bringing a message to the forefront.

“We don’t like to really call ourselves shoe customizers as much as we are artists that do shoes,” said David “DEZ” Zambrano, who’s been designing cleats since the initiative started in 2016. “We try to tell stories. Do it in a way that tells a story, do it in a way that opens your eyes.”

Bradley, Reddick, A.J. Brown, and Jake Elliott are among those that will be wearing cleats in honor of the anti-gun violence cause, supporting the Everytown for Gun Safety organization.

“It kind of hit home for me,” said Bradley, a Mount Holly native. “I’ve seen all types of stuff. I’ve had trauma I went through early on in my high school years that was a part of gun violence. I just know this community, and more importantly, what’s affecting the community.”

When deciding on the design of the cleats, the linebacker wanted to honor the memory of Elizalde and Roxborough. He met with artists Zambrano and his partner, Mohammed Gafar, as well as junior painter Fernando Rivera to discuss the best way to capture Bradley’s message through the cleats.

“It was very surreal to talk with someone that was that connected,” Zambrano said. “When you can put that together and it really motivates you to kind of push the limits of what you’re gonna do on the shoe and really deliver, so my partner Mohammed actually did that specific pair, and I think he did a great job.”

The Eagles invited the football players that were affected by the Roxborough shooting to Lincoln Financial Field on Nov. 29. Bradley, Jordan Mailata, T.J. Edwards, and Nakobe Dean spoke to the teens about the trauma they’ve faced and shared their personal experiences on the matter.

Bradley lost two friends to gun violence. While attending Rancocas Valley Regional High School, Bradley was 16 years old when he found out his friend died by suicide, taking their life with a bullet. Then at the age of 18, his friend was fatally shot, after being involved in a shootout.

He went through a mix of emotions. It started with grief then frustration, Bradley said, because he didn’t know how to deal with it. It wasn’t until he confided in his dad and former Temple assistant coach Fran Brown about how he was feeling that he started to cope with those emotions.

“At first I was like, ‘Man, I don’t really want to talk about it,’ because I always felt like everybody has problems,” Bradley said. “Everybody goes through things and no one at the end of the day really cares since everybody’s going through something. I had to build myself up to talk with my dad and coach Fran Brown, who recruited me at Temple.”

Bradley’s dad reminded him to think about the good memories. And when it comes to anger, the best way to deal with it was through football.

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He found football as a coping mechanism. So when he learned that other football players had their sacred grounds disrupted by gun violence, Bradley knew he needed to speak up.

“Everybody’s there for one goal — to play football,” Bradley said. “It’s none of that street stuff or street violence. I got little brothers that play Pop Warner, what would I do if it was them? Immediately, I wanted to get out, help and figure out ways I could shed light on this and make it more public.”

Bradley’s focus is making the youth aware of issues surrounding gun violence. He believes that starts with actively being involved in the community. He’s hoping to attend different schools in the area to talk with students on the subject.

“A lot of people come to these kids, they’re just trying to tell them what the facts are and why you shouldn’t use a gun,” Bradley said. “It’s not realistic. You got to have these kids relate to you and understand where they are coming from.”

For now, the hope is that on Week 13, when the Eagles take the field against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, those causes will be remembered by the millions of fans watching.

» READ MORE: The mother of Roxborough shooting victim Nicolas Elizalde, 14, has a message: ‘He isn’t a number’

And Bradley hopes Elizalde’s name is one they remember.

“It’s getting worse and worse,” Bradley said. “It’s not just affecting the families of the people that were [affected by] gun violence, it’s also affecting everybody in that area. That’s people’s livelihood.”

Inquirer Eagles beat reporters EJ Smith and Josh Tolentino preview the team’s Week 13 game against the Tennessee Titans. Watch at Inquirer.com/EaglesGameday