After losing a close friend, Christian Gonzalez was inspired to use the NFL platform to spark conversations about mental health

When Gonzalez returned to New England, he saw a registration form for a community event hosted by the Patriots Foundation in partnership with KyleCares – a nonprofit organization

The KyleCares Foundation was founded by Jim Johnson and his family after his son Kyle died by suicide in 2018. Their goal is to prevent student self-harm and suicide by creating school environments where students and their caregivers have the confidence and resources to seek help without shame or hesitation.

This piqued his interest and Gonzalez put his name on the list. He joined his teammates in May as they met students at North Attleboro High School and learned more about Kyle Cares’ work to promote open and honest communication about the mental health issues facing teens and young adults.

“I want to use my platform to talk about mental health,” Gonzalez said. “Mental health is important. Reach out to someone. I know it can be difficult, but talk to everyone you can about your mental health. Express how you feel as much as possible, stay positive and always love people because you never know what they are going through.

To spread this message, Gonzalez has discussed his cause in national NFL commercials promoting “My Cause My Cleats.” On Sunday, he will finally take the field in the special clearances honoring both Kyle Cares and Miller.

The boots feature the Kyle Cares logo, one of Miller’s nicknames, and a photo of Gonzalez and Miller playing together in Colorado and celebrating their trademark.

“It’s really cool to see these come to life,” Gonzalez said.

“There’s a picture of the celebration we did and it says ‘Miller Time’ – his nickname. We hate to admit it, no one wanted to call him Miller Time, but he wanted everyone to call him that. And now: It’s Miller time for life, it’s something I always want to do. He was the first to ask me how I was and tell me he loved me Light of the Room, so this is my way of paying my respects and keeping his name alive.