Watt's shoes were inspired by a visit with Navy SEAL widows. JJ Watt/Twitter
This article originally appeared on CultureMap.
Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt just released a pair of shoes this holiday season, with the money going toward a good cause. Watt met a group of Navy SEAL widows in 2012, whom he says have become lifelong friends, and he wanted to do something to honor them.
Watt posted to social media saying he wanted to create a shoe to honor the Navy SEAL community and do it as "authentically as possible," so he brought in a Navy SEAL to help design the shoe. It's called the JJ II Valor edition.
"This is what we came up with. As you see, it's nothing flashy, nothing crazy. It's just what he wanted and there's many details of this shoe that are special to me," said Watt in an Instagram video.
View this post on InstagramThis pair is special. For so many reasons. For starters, for every pair purchased this holiday season, a pair of JJ's will be donated to The Navy SEAL Foundation. In addition, all of my personal proceeds from this shoe will go to directly to The Navy SEAL Danny Dietz Foundation. In 2012 while attending a Memorial Day event, I met a group of Navy SEAL widows who have now become lifelong friends. They have since introduced me to many incredible people within the SEAL community and beyond. I wanted to create a shoe to honor that community and do it as authentically as possible. The best way I knew how to do that was to invite a Navy SEAL to work hand in hand with me on designing the shoe. If you watch the video, you'll see all of the details and thought that went into creating this shoe. I am extremely excited about this shoe and I hope you'll enjoy it just as much as I do. Thank you and all the best!! It will be available Tonight at midnight on Reebok.com
A post shared by JJ Watt (@jjwatt) on Dec 11, 2018 at 6:18pm PST
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