JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – When the Jaguars take the field Sunday against the Texans, they will do so with new equipment. If you take a look at their cleats, each one will be different, unique to themselves and the causes they choose to represent as part of the NFL’s ninth annual “My Cause My Cleats” initiative. Long snapper Ross Matiscik chooses to represent the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund.

“The Jay Fund is an organization very close to me and my heart,” Matiscik said. “Being here in Jacksonville for my fifth season, I’ve worked with them a lot throughout my years. I find it very appropriate to represent them with my crampons again this year.

“I love them,” Matiscik added of the custom cleats. “Gracielin, I kind of gave her the freedom to do whatever she wanted with them and she put a great little ribbon with flowers on the front. The blue colors of Jay Fund look great with the logo on the side very big and proud for everyone to see. I’m excited to wear them on Sunday.

Once the game is over, Matiscik plans to give the worn cleats to their designer, 17-year-old Gracielin Hickox. The Jacksonville native was diagnosed with classical Hodgkin lymphoma last July, a month before starting her senior year of high school. Since her diagnosis, she spent 51 days in hospital where she began drawing.

“From the hospital, like when I was admitted and all that,” Hickox said. “I was so bored that I felt like anything was possible at that point and I actually found a lot of joy in it.”

One day, while she was at Nemours Children’s Health, she was surprised by the invitation to design Matiscik’s personalized cleats.

“I had just gotten my eighth day chemo,” Hickox said. “When they told me I was drawing it and would definitely be cast, I was really excited.”

The drawing process has begun. Just like a professional artist, Hickox had to think about a design. She says it was nerve-wracking at first because she didn’t know what she wanted to create, but then it came to her.

“We started by drawing the ribbon,” Hickox said. “The guy from Art with a Heart, he was telling me what to draw. He knew I liked drawing flowers, so I made flowers on the Jaguar print.

“I think Gracielin killed them,” Matiscik said. “Until cancer doesn’t exist” is a pretty strong statement. I think it’s something that everyone works for, so to see that on the cleats because I lost my aunt and my grandmother to cancer, so it means a lot to me and I’m all for it. actually okay. Let’s make this thing go away for good.

This is the second year that Matiscik has partnered with the Jay Fund for the “My Cause My Cleats” initiative. Last season, he wore cleats designed by 13-year-old Seth Rowe.

“It’s still pretty shocking,” Rowe said. “It’s like he’s actually wearing them on the field.” It’s crazy.

The Jacksonville native was first diagnosed with a brain tumor in January 2019, when he was 9 years old. Rowe’s cancer returned in July 2023 and went into remission a year later.

“Chemotherapy was, imagine the worst thing that could happen, it’s worse than that,” Rowe said.

At Wolfson Children’s Hospital, he created his own motto: Ready to Fight.

“I thought of this design because it looked cool and it’s a cancer ribbon,” Rowe said. “They say you have to be ready to fight. I was ready for a fight and anyone going through a tough time needs to be ready for a fight.

Over the past year, Rowe and Matiscik have formed a friendship, which is very important to Rowe because he is a huge Jaguars fan.

“I mean, the courage of this kid,” Matiscik said. “I really believe he’s an angel. He’s one of the toughest people I know. It’s just cool what the Jay Fund stands for and the kind of relationships you can create from that.

These are the types of relationships that remind Matiscik how lucky he is despite the Jaguars’ struggling season.

“The season doesn’t go the way you want it to, but you have to remember how lucky you are,” Matiscik said. “Being in this position and there are kids struggling with serious conditions, right? It puts everything into perspective when you go into one of those hospital beds and see these kids fighting. A coloring book or something could bring them all the joy in the world and we’re here pouting at the thought of losing some games or whatever. On the field and off the field, everything that happens in life, it’s just one of those things that gives you a real quick reality check of how truly blessed we are.

Sunday’s game against the Texans is more than just a much-needed win for the Jaguars. Every time players look at their cleats, it reminds them who they play for.

“Football is a game that we also dedicate our lives to, but at the end of the day, it’s not our whole life,” Matiscik said. “Our whole life and purpose of being on this planet is to help others and leave a lasting image and leave it better than you found it. Seeing his name on my cleats, seeing his design, it’s so much more than football and I’m excited to wear them on Sunday.

Hickox completed chemotherapy on October 23 and will begin radiation treatment soon. She should be completely finished with treatment in December. She said after that experience and meeting Matiscik, she is now a Jaguars fan. While Rowe is also doing well and said her experience during the ‘My Cause My Cleats’ initiative was incredible and indescribable.