CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns shed their helmets and pads for masks and costumes on Tuesday night, dressing in their Halloween best and walking a spooky runway with some adorable children from University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's and The Littlest Heroes.
Hosted inside Huntington Bank Field, numerous players attended to support the initiative and the children, many of whom are dealing with various medical conditions.
Some of them were connected through The Littlest Heroes, an organization with a mission "to provide financial and emotional support to families battling childhood cancer and other life-threatening illnesses."
Children like Lilliana Aguilar, who recently had a tumor removed from her brain.
"Lilly started having balance issues, we noticed in January, and we spent a few months going back and forth, taking her to appointments to figure out what was wrong with her. In July, they found a tumor on the back of her brain and they took it out and she's been recovering very well. Before her surgery, she couldn't really go up and down stairs, and now she can go up and down stairs," Lilliana's mom, Alexa Geiger.
Lilliana wasn't just able to walk up and down stairs on Tuesday; she also walked down the runway, dressed as Princess Peach from the Mario video game franchise.
Browns kicker Andre Szmyt escorted her, dressed as an alien from "Toy Story," and wide receiver Luke Floriea, dressed as Scooby-Doo.
Tuesday's event saw a number of Browns players dressed up for the fashion show. Here's who attended and what costumes they sported:
- S Grant Delpit- Buddy the Elf, a shark.
- G Joel Bitonio- The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
- TE David Njoku- Batman, The Grinch.
- C Ethan Pocic- a slice of pizza.
- WR Cedric Tillman- Ghostbusters.
- RB Quinshon Judkins- Cookie Monster, Mr. Incredible, Fred Flintstone.
- WR Luke Floriea- Scooby-Doo.
- K Andre Szymt- Toy Story alien.
- T Cornelius Lucas- a banana, a construction worker.
- LB Carson Schweinsger- a pirate.
Bitonio, who has worked with these groups before, said being able to support the children means a lot to the guys.
"To be here and spend a little time with them, just give them a little bit of joy, hopefully makes a little bit of difference, but their strength and their power is really special to us. It puts things in perspective for sure," Bitonio said. "You just have so much admiration for what these kids have gone through, and hopefully they can keep pushing through."
This was the fourth time the Browns have hosted their Halloween Fashion Show, and Bitonio has been to every one.
For the rookies, this was their first experience, but they felt just the same.
"Many of these kids have different disorders and different things that they fight through every day, and to see them push through different things and see them fight and still have smiles, they're really great kids," said Judkins.
While it was special for the players, it was just as meaningful for the kids and their families who got to participate in the festivities.
"The fact that they came out here and especially like with the little ones, putting up with their spunkiness, to us, it's just great to just see them give back their time. My husband was like, they could probably be on the field practicing or doing whatever they do on their normal day-to-day, but they're going to be here, walking the runway and having dinner. So, for us, it was really great," Geiger said.
With kids in costumes ranging from Disney princesses and Marvel superheroes to the more spooky costumes of the Grim Reaper or a zombie, the night was full of Halloween fashion, but most of all, joy.
If you ask Judkins, that joy stems from the football field and into the community.
"Cleveland is home. I played at Ohio State. Ohio is all I know, man, and I'm going to die playing football here in Cleveland and I'm giving everything I got," he said.
