A.J. McCarron spotlights USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital with special cleats
Former Crimson Tide quarterback and current Houston Texans player A.J. McCarron wore special cleats on Sunday Dec. 6., emblazoned with USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital.
By Casandra Andrews
candrews@health.southalabama.edu
Former Crimson Tide quarterback and current Houston Texans player A.J. McCarron wore special cleats on Sunday Dec. 6., emblazoned with USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital, the place where he received life-saving care after an accident as a child.
McCarron, who joined the Texans in 2019, posted photos showing his choice of footwear last week on Instagram. His colorful shoes also pay homage to the United Way of Mobile, his grandmother and his mother, Dee Dee Perciavale.
“This Sunday against the Colts,” he wrote on Instagram, “I’m using #MyCauseMyCleats to honor United Way of Mobile, AL, USA (Health) Children’s (& Women’s) Hospital of Mobile and to shine a light on breast cancer awareness. All of these causes are near and dear to my heart.”
While he was a student and football player at the University of Alabama, McCarron visited a little girl battling for her life at Children’s & Women’s Hospital in Mobile.
On Christmas Eve in 2012, McCarron and his family met with Starla Chapman, then age 3, and her parents during an unscheduled visit to the hospital. While there, Starla, who was being treated for cancer, gave him a yellow bracelet.
He wore the bracelet a few nights later when he helped lead the University of Alabama to victory in the BCS National Championship game.
Since then, the Chapman and McCarron families have remained in contact, appearing together a few years ago during an event where Starla Chapman served as an ambassador for Children’s & Women’s Hospital and Children’s Miracle Network.
