When the Colts take the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in Week 13 against the Houston Texans, their footwear will be markedly different than their typical blue, black or white cleats; almost 70 Colts players, coaches and staff members will be wearing custom-painted cleats and shoes dedicated to a charity of their choice, as part of the NFL's My Cause, My Cleats initiative.

Prior to the game, we asked some players about the meaning behind their cleats. Here are their stories:

Shane Steichen

Cause: Kicking the Stigma

Steichen will be one of 19 Colts staff members and/or players representing the Colts' Kicking the Stigma campaign on Sunday. Everyone in the Colts organization is a strong supporter of the initiative, recognizing how important it is to provide support and resources for not only professional athletes, but anyone who might be struggling with their mental health.

"I think it's huge," Steichen said about the importance of the My Cause, My Cleats game. "To represent certain causes that people have, foundations. Obviously Kicking The Stigma, that we have here at this organization, that Kalen (Jackson) does. I think it's a testament to helping other people. So, I'm looking forward to that. I'll be wearing the Kicking The Stigma shoes, so that'll be fun."

Daniel Jones

Cause: Mission 34

In 2018, Jones lost one of his good friends and former high school teammate Sean Bonner to suicide. Bonner was 20 years old. In Sean's honor, his parents founded Mission 34 to get rid of the stigma around mental illness through awareness, education and ambassadors in various college campuses and cities around the United States. They have 16 active college chapters and have been able to reach over 17,000 people across the nation. Their message – and the message displayed across Jones' cleats – is "A New Type of Tough," aiming to show that being able to ask for help makes you strong.

"Seeking help shows strength, not weakness," Jones said. "I'm proud to support Mission 34 and their efforts to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness."

Zaire Franklin

Cause: Girls Flag Football, Shelice's Angels

Franklin will be representing two different causes with his cleats on Sunday: Girls Flag Football and his own nonprofit, Shelice's Angels, which aims to inspire and empower young women . Franklin has been very involved with the Colts' initiatives to promote flag football, especially girls flag football. In February, he was named one of the NFL's Global Flag Football Ambassadors, and during the 2024 season had the opportunity to help coach girls flag football players at Lucas Oil Stadium.

"Being named the global ambassador for flag football has been a really cool experience," Franklin said. "Just the girls I was able to meet and influence as the game continues to grow, especially in Indianapolis, has been really special. And it's truly something that's near and dear to my heart. Most of time I've done community service throughout my career that's more STEM and academic, but getting into Girls Flag, you get an opportunity to really grow the game and share that joy and that love I have for the game with someone else, and especially to the young ladies being able to step in a whole new area has been really dope."

Jalen Travis

Cause: The Mind Trust

Travis, a Princeton graduate, has always been called to fight for education and education equity. As a college football player, Travis was involved in a plethora of different organizations and community efforts, including interning on Capitol Hill in the summer of 2022, working for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and co-founding the Just Action Coalition. When Travis was drafted by the Colts in the fourth-round of the 2025 NFL Draft, he knew he wanted to continue his community efforts in Indianapolis. Through the help of the Colts organization, Travis settled on representing The Mind Trust -- a local organization that ensures children in Indianapolis have access to good education no matter where they live -- for his first My Cause, My Cleats game.

"Education really changed my life and really exposed me to the world," he said. "I'm a huge believer in terms of, one, getting communities that haven't been exposed to such opportunities exposed to them primarily through education...I think my biggest thing is your zip code doesn't have to define you, and how can we begin to expose them, whether it's with one-on-one mentorship or having Colts players who've done great outside of football come into that world."

Cam Bynum

Cause: Bynum Faith Foundation

Bynum created the Bynum Faith Foundation a few years ago, with the goal of providing holistic aid to underprivileged communities in the United States and the Philippines, with a focus on natural disaster relief. They help rebuild homes, distribute educational supplies and hold American football camps across the Philippines; Bynum is of Filipino heritage, and despite never living there he felt called to help his homeland.

"We started with disaster relief and then kind of branched from that just to any way we can help in a community, because we don't want to do it just when there's a natural disaster, we want to help beyond that," Bynum said. "Just being able to help people that I know don't have as many opportunities. When it comes to sports, there's not as many sports opportunities in Asia, specifically the Philippines, as there is here in the U.S., but also with us meeting the needs of the community beyond sports, us being able to help people that don't have nearly as much as we have in the U.S..

"It's a faith-based foundation, so being able to share our faith and share God's love with people is our most important thing."

Jaylon Jones

Cause: Kicking the Stigma

Jones has now represented Kicking the Stigma in each of his three years with the Colts, as the cause is something that resonates with him on a personal level. He wants to use his platform to spread awareness for the cause and show that it's okay not to be okay all the time, no matter who you are or what your profession is.

"I believe that mental health is one of the most important things to human life," Jones said. "I just want people out there to know that everybody's human, everybody goes through things. And us as an organization, us as players, we got your back. I love the cause, I love that we do that here. To me, just through my life it's just very important that we really harp on that subject."