If you had told a young Reid Garrant that cleats with his name on them would be running up and down Heinz Field, there’s absolutely no way he would have believe you.
And yes, it would still be Heinz Field in Reid’s eyes. None of this “Acrisure Stadium” nonsense.
For the second year in a row, even though the late Garrant is watching his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers from a different place, that dream played itself out. Once again, hometown hero Pat Freiermuth partnered with the Reid Landry Garrant Foundation for the NFL’s annual “My Cause, My Cleats” initiative that has occurred every Week 13 for the last eight seasons.
During Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, Freiermuth — the former Eagle-Tribune MVP for the Brooks School — wore custom cleats that honored both his fallen high school teammate, and an organization that has worked tirelessly to raise awareness for, and support families who have dealt with leukemia.
Freiermuth and Garrant, an Eagle-Tribune All-Star offensive lineman as a senior in 2013, were teammates with the Pentucket Regional High football team, where Freiermuth played before he transferred to Brooks.
“Stepping onto the field with purpose and heart,” Freiermuth wrote in a social media post. “These cleats honor my late high school teammate, Reid Garrant, during ‘My Cause, My Cleats’ games. This Sunday, my cleats echo Reid’s legacy, promoting the Reid Landry Garrant Foundation to raise awareness for Leukemia. Following Reid’s motto: ‘Family, God & Football.’”
Family. God. Football.
Three words that pretty much perfectly summed up Reid Garrant, a standout lineman on the 2013 Pentucket squad that advanced to the Division 4 North finals. Freiermuth was the hotshot freshman on that team, who dazzled for two years for his hometown school before transferring to the Brooks School.
Shortly after Garrant’s passing, the Reid Landry Garrant Foundation was formed, and for the past five years now the organization has dedicated its mission to making sure fellow families who are struggling with the disease get the support they need.
“I’m beyond thankful to Pat,” said Paula Garrant, Reid’s mother and the founder of the organization. “He’s helping to put leukemia awareness on a national level, and it’s been so amazing that he’s wanted to do it. The cleats are beautiful. They show everything about Reid, and they show pride for the area they both grew up in.”
For years, Paula was a Patriots fan surrounded by Steelers fans.
“The Steelers were in my house so much when Reid was growing up,” laughed Paula.
Reid was a diehard waver of the “Terrible Towel” through and through, which made it a sign of divine intervention when Freiermuth, his former teammate, was taken by Pittsburgh in the second round of the 2021 Draft. Reid was actually closer to Pat’s older brother, Tim Freiermuth — who now coaches at Hamilton-Wenham — who he played on the offensive line with in high school, but the families have known each other for a while now.
And ask anyone on that 2013 Pentucket team, and they’ll tell you: “Reid didn’t talk much. But when he did, everyone listened.”
So for Pat Freiermuth, it was an easy decision to partner with a hometown organization for “My Cause, My Cleats” last year. His parents, Tim and his family, as well as Paula and a few friends were planning to be at Sunday’s game.
“I’ll be waving my ‘Terrible Towel’ like crazy!” said Paula before the game.
And the cleats weren’t hard to miss.
They of course have an orange base for leukemia awareness, but also feature green trim and green laces as a shout-out to Pentucket. The Reid Landry Garrant Foundation logo is printed on one toe with the leukemia ribbon on the other, and on the heel is Reid’s No. 59 that he wore in high school. The words “Leukemia Awareness” and “Merrimac, MA, 01860” are printed on the right side of the cleat, and on the left are the logos of Reid’s four favorite teams: Peabody High (youth football), Pentucket (high school), UMass Dartmouth Corsairs (college) and Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Any time that my son can be on the field, it’s amazing,” said Paula.