Idris Elba's Don’t Stab Your Future in NFL Nike makeover collab

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Dec 6, 2022

Actor Idris Elba and Dallas Cowboys coach Aden Durde aren’t such an unusual combination when it comes to spearheading good causes. Both London born, they have partnered to raise awareness of knife-crime campaigning in the UK capital.

They’ve come together to support the US National Football League’s ‘My Cause My Cleats’ Week 13 initiative, which is spotlighting Elba’s fashion-purpose brand ‘Don’t Stab Your Future’ (DSYF) that he launched three years ago.  

They have co-endorsed customised pairs of Nike Air Force One’s with DSYF graphics which Durde wore on-field during last Sunday night’s game between Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys.

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Design details included a list of the 14 London postcodes that have been affected by knife crime. 'Don’t Stab Your Future' is handwritten by Elba with a neon graffiti-inspired colour pop across the shoe to represent London’s urban landscape.  In a nod to the pair’s British roots, the Air Force One logo is customised in the Union Jack colours of red, white and blue.

The ongoing My Cause My Cleats campaign (now in its seventh season) sees NFL players, coaches, and staff across the league wearing custom-painted cleats for the campaign “highlighting different non-profit organisations and causes that mean the most to them”.

Players combine forces with artists and cleat manufacturers each year to create these custom-designed footwear that showcase their causes in “a way that resonates personally to the player, their fans and the cause”.

Elba said of his association with the My Cause My Cleat’s campaign: “At the heart of ‘Don’t Stab Your Future’ is collaboration, and we want to partner with other like-minded organisations to inspire change. Sport is naturally an incubator for bringing likeminded people together. Why? Because sports appeals to the youth, whether you are watching it, or are part of a team, or you are playing it and you have a coach. It’s a natural incubator for learning, respect and personal growth. Everyone needs to be part of a family, a community, so they feel safe. Kids feel safe. And sport can help provide that. When kids start being fractioned off here and there, they see gangs as a way of being included in something.” 

Durde added: “Helping to fund and promote the work that community organisations and foundations do in the fight against knife crime is so important. Without those people in those communities, I wouldn’t be where I am today. We have to use our platform and voice to promote these people, as they are the real change.”