Colts safety Rodney McLeod, Virginia alum, wearing cleats in honor of shooting victims
INDIANAPOLIS — Rodney McLeod is wearing his heart on his cleats this Sunday.
The veteran Colts safety played his college football at Virginia, the program and campus rocked this week by the Nov. 13 shooting that claimed the lives of three Cavaliers and injured two more Virginia students, including another football player.
McLeod’s left cleat, a black shoe, bore the names of the three players and their numbers — Lavel Davis (No. 1), Devin Chandler (15) and D’Sean Perry (41). The veteran’s right cleat, a white shoe, was emblazoned with a poem.
“Those we love, they walk beside us every day, unseen, unheard but always near,” the poem read in blue lettering. “Still loved, still missed and very dear.”
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McLeod, 32, last played in Virginia in 2012, but he knows Cavaliers wide receivers coach Marques Hagans well, played with linebackers coach Clint Sintim and frequently returns to campus, last heading back for the school’s Black Alumni Weekend.
The Colts were flying back from Las Vegas late last Sunday night.
But McLeod, like the rest of the world, saw the news and immediately felt it.
“It’s tough to see any of your brothers pass away like that. Of course, heart goes out to the family, friends who woke up the other day without a loved one,” McLeod said. “You obviously send your child off to school for education and for them to live out their dreams, and that’s all taken away from them in a matter of seconds.”
McLeod is one of two Virginia products on the Colts roster.
The other, rookie tight end Jelani Woods, was part of Virginia’s roster last season, and he was not ready to talk about the shooting when asked about it this week. The details of the shooting have made it difficult for authorities to ascertain a motive — according to The Washington Post, no motive has been released by police yet, a week after the shooting — and although the shooter, Christopher Jones Jr., played on Virginia’s football team in 2018, he’d never played with any of his victims.
“It comes down to the gun violence, and how that’s impacting a lot of our younger generation,” McLeod said. “A lot of people’s lives are getting taken too soon, and we have to do a better job as leaders, people in the government, policies, laws, things have to change if we want for good things to happen, and these things not to happen. They’re happening too often, especially to people of color.”
The impact on Virginia has been heartbreaking.
The Cavaliers canceled Saturday’s scheduled game against Coastal Carolina, and there have been vigils on campus throughout the week.
“It is sad, and I’m just really with the entire football team and university,” McLeod said. “I know they’re dealing with a lot there right now.”
The NFL traditionally has fined players for wearing cleats considered “non-conforming” footwear, allowing players to get creative with their shoes only for My Cause, My Cleats weekend, which is two weeks away.
McLeod wore his Virginia cleats in-game anyway.
Supporting his school matters more.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts Rodney McLeod, Virginia alum, wears cleats for shooting victims
