Raiders’ Derek Carr and Jared Cook showed support for Fresno-area organizations

It’s no surprise that Derek Carr showed support for Valley Children’s HealthCare during Sunday’s My Cause, My Cleats campaign.

But his Oakland Raiders teammate, tight end Jared Cook, also brought attention to a central San Joaquin Valley charities, the Down Syndrome Association of Central California.

Cook split his support. One side of his cleats had the the acronym for the National Down Syndrome Society; the other carried the pink ribbon emblem of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Cook’s mom is a breast cancer survivor and his 1-year-old daughter has Down syndrome.

The NFL said about 70 percent of its 1,410 active players planned to showcase their causes on-field during Week 13 games, nearly double the player participation from the inaugural year of the campaign.

The Raiders’ cleats were designed by equipment manager Bob Romanski, who’s known for his skill with an airbrush.

Carr, whose son Dallas was born with intestinal malrotation and needed three surgeries, said Valley Children’s will always hold a special place for his family including wife Heather. He had Dallas’ name on the toe and the skyline of Fresno on the inside part of his shoe.

“It was really important for me to raise awareness for them because what my wife and I went through with our oldest son, Dallas,” Carr said after Sunday’s 24-17 victory over the New York Giants. “It was a blessing that my wife’s water broke because they said if he wasn’t born like that – if he was born on time, eight days later – he would not have made it. When a doctor tells you ‘He might not make it,’ it’s not very fun.

“We thank God for that place and we wanted to raise awareness for everyone that has to go through something. I realize how fortunate we are, how blessed we are. We’re just trying to do everything we can for that hospital, because really, that’s a special place.”

Dallas is 4 now and has no issues, Carr said. “He has a sweet scar on his stomach that he tells everyone is a shark bite and that daddy beat up the shark.”

This story was originally published December 4, 2017 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Raiders’ Derek Carr and Jared Cook showed support for Fresno-area organizations."