The timing of the NFL's My Cause, My Cleats showcase couldn't have been better for Michael Mauti.
The New Orleans Saints linebacker is wearing cleats to raise awareness for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, and the foundation's annual Crohn's & Colitis Awareness Week began on Friday.
Mauti has experienced the complications of ulcerative colitis firsthand. He was diagnosed with the disease while he was at Penn State, and although he managed the symptoms for years, his rapid weight loss in 2016 forced him to miss the end of last season.
After the Saints placed Mauti on the non-football illness list last November, he began the process of having three surgeries to remove his colon and rectum and have the organs replaced with an internal pouch that mimics their purpose.