BEREA, Ohio — This week, a number of players will be taking the field wearing custom footwear for the NFL's My Cause My Cleats initiative, including star defensive end Myles Garrett. But Garrett's cause this year is something he has never stopped supporting.
Garrett keeps his former teammate Luke Laufenberg with him all the time, sported on his arm every single day.
"I always wear his wristband, reminding me of the kind of person that he is," Garrett said.
Garrett and Laufenberg were college teammates at Texas A&M—Garrett, a star pass rusher, and Laufenberg, a walk-on rookie tight end tasked with blocking Garrett on scout team. Laufenberg's dad, Babe, recalled his son speaking of the job he had to do.
"When Luke got to Texas A&M, he was a scout team tight end. Well guess who he had to block? One day I said, 'Hey Luke, what's it like blocking Myles?' and he said, 'Well, daddy, if I get my hands on him, I can keep him out for about a half a second.' And I said, 'Well, what happens if you don't have a good technique?' and he said, 'Oh, well then he just throws me,'" Babe said.
Those moments created a quick bond between Garrett and Laufenberg, and the two developed a friendship on and off the field. The friendship is one that continues to hold deep memories for Garrett, which resurfaced recently after a conversation with Jason Garrett, the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, where Babe works as the radio network analyst.
"I got the chance to meet with Jason Garrett and we took a picture and sent it to Babe and kind of brought that emotion back of that time when we were in college and we were spending time on the field time, time after school and after practice together, just bringing back those memories," Garrett said.
Those are memories Garrett holds dear to him, unable to create new memories with his former teammate.
In 2017, when he was just 19 years old and just several months after he had celebrated with Garrett as he was selected by the Browns with the first overall pick in that year's draft, Laufenberg was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, a rare and highly aggressive form of blood cancer.
Laufenberg fought hard every step of the way. Sadly, less than two years after his diagnosis, Laufenberg passed away at the young age of 21.
It was a moment that shook those who knew Laufenberg hard, but six years after his passing, Laufenberg will take the field with Garrett once again—in spirit.
"I just wanted to bring it full circle and show how much he left an impression on all of us, including myself and he's a hell of a person and I'm better because I knew him," Garrett said.
Representing Laufenberg this year through the My Cause My Cleats initiative, Garrett's custom footwear supports the Luke Laufenberg Fight Fund. The spikes feature a portrait of Laufenberg on them, among a blue sky-like backdrop with white clouds and the hashtag #LiveLikeLuke.
Garrett was impressed with the design of the cleats when he first saw them.
"They did a hell of a job. I loved it. Love the theme, the colors in which they worked with. I think his likeness looks very well and I'm just proud of the work that they did and glad that I'm able to have a piece of him with me," Garrett said.
And as he takes the field Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers at Huntington Bank Field, Garrett will have that piece of Laufenberg with him to go along with the wrist band he always wears—this token more visible, allowing Garrett to raise awareness for his late friend, and allow more people to know the kind of person Laufenberg was along the way.
"Optimistic, resilient, just always wanted to be the one percent better, make people around him a little bit better just for knowing him and that wasn't his goal or mission but just the kind of person he was. I think we all could live like that," Garrett said.
To learn more about how Garrett is supporting the Luke Laufenberg Fight Fund, and other Browns players' causes, click here.
