Kansas City artist handles My Cause My Cleats designs for multiple Chiefs players.

The NFL program allows athletes to support a charitable cause during a game, then after the game, auction the cleats off for that charity.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A local artist will be watching the game closely. Two Kansas City Chiefs players will be wearing his custom cleats. "Once you paint them, you can't not look for them," Artist and painter Craig Greco said. The local artist was selected by not one but two Chiefs for the 2022 My Cause My Cleats NFL charity initiative. "The guys are working with really fascinating charities and different foundations," Greco said. The NFL's program allows athletes to support a charitable cause during a game, then after the game, auction the cleats off for that charity. "I really enjoy watching throughout the game and seeing if I get a cool camera shot," Greco said.

For the artist and painter Greco, his Harrison Butker shoe is like his Super Bowl trophy. That design was the first and the beginning of something special. Now, every time the NFL campaign comes up, he gets a call. "Some pups and little paw prints, a really fun shoe for George Karlaftis, who's working with Canine Companions," Greco said of one of his new shoes. On Thursday, he's painting shoes for Chiefs receiver Skye Moore. The young wideout will wear his cleats on Sunday against the Bengals.

"Just the design that goes into each one of those is really neat," Greco said. Craig says it takes a lot of time to paint each set. There's always a tight deadline, but he tries to get as creative as possible," He says it's important to translate what the player is looking for and, at the same time, honor the charity work. "An opportunity to express their own artistic freedom, if you will, on the field using their cleats," Greco said. The artist has done shoes for 10 players. He hopes someday to paint cleats for Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

https://www.kmbc.com/article/kansas-city-artist-my-cause-my-cleats-chiefs/42126067