Ravens DT Wears Cleats Honoring Israel Collective During Game Against Buccaneers
December 17, 2018 SAN ANTONIO – On Sunday, starting Baltimore Ravens Defensive Tackle Michael Pierce wore cleats honoring Israel as part of the NFL’s My Cause, My Cleats program, during his team’s matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Pierce, who traveled to Israel in March with the IC, an initiative of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), noted that he hopes his decision to spotlight Israel and the IC will increase interest in learning about what is really going on in the Middle East.
“I hope that people will read about [this] and then maybe go over there… and to be able to see exactly what’s going on,” Pierce said in a video discussing his decision to support the Israel Collective.
“Having the Israel flag in front and center was paramount for me – I needed that to be right where it is,” Pierce added.
For the IC, Pierce’s decision to honor Israel in this way was deeply moving. And I know that it wasn’t just we at the organization that were touched; since Michael posted the video unboxing the cleats we’ve received emails and calls from friends across the country and all over Israel asking us to thank him for his show of solidarity with the Jewish state,” said IC co-director Josh Ahrens.
“We’ve taken football players, YouTube sensations, preachers, a former Miss America and everything in between to Israel, and while our more than 500 trip participants have come from a wide range of diverse backgrounds and professions, they all have life changing, eye-opening experiences in Israel. That is exactly what we hoped to achieve when the Israel Collective was created, and I am thrilled with what’s been accomplished and excited about what’s to come next,” added CUFI co-executive director Shari Dollinger.
The Israel Collective, an initiative of Christians United for Israel, was founded in 2014 by a team of young Christian leaders dedicated to building vibrant relationships between American Christians and the people of the Holy Land.
With more than 5 million members, Christians United for Israel is the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States and one of the leading Christian grassroots movements in the world. CUFI spans all fifty states and reaches millions with its message. Each year CUFI holds hundreds of pro-Israel events in cities around the country. And each July, thousands of pro-Israel Christians gather in Washington, D.C. to participate in the CUFI Washington Summit and make their voices heard in support of Israel and the Jewish People.
