Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds wore a special pair of cleats during pregame warmups before last Sunday's 35-16 win over the Jaguars in London.
The cleats were gifted to him last Wednesday on the Bears' practice field in Ware, United Kingdom. They featured designs created by children affiliated with the Huddle Project, a program for boys and girls ages 11-18 founded in 2023 that provides increased access to free sporting activity and employment opportunities in Tottenham.
An artist took designs created by about 10 children and painted them onto a pair of Nike cleats. Some of the kids explained why they painted what they painted. One girl said she drew flames coming out of a football because it represented her passion for the sport. Another drew a football with the No. 22 on it because that's the number she wears on her flag football team.
Edmunds was thrilled to receive the cleats.
"The reason why they put this stuff on there, that's amazing," Edmunds said. "Definitely send my thanks to everybody. These are amazing. It's almost like they took my idea in my head and put it all together in one.
"For them to hand-paint them, that was real neat. These are actually fire, appreciate it, thank you. They've got my name right here. See, I'm paying attention to everything."
Edmunds was also excited to reconnect with kids from The Huddle Project he had met during a trip to London last spring when he visited Dukes Academy, a school that's near Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
"It means a lot to know that they were still thinking about me," Edmunds said. "When I was there [in the spring], they were participating in an activity, and I had the chance to jump in. We kind of just tossed a football around and talked about ball and life of being in the NFL. Those kids had big dreams and any question I could answer, I wanted to make sure I was there for them and just let them know my experience, let them know how I got to where I got to.
"I had a good time. The kids [welcomed] me with open arms, so I really appreciate them giving me a gift. To everybody who helped design them, good job and you all definitely are artists."
