Chicago Bears linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga poses with his custom painted cleats for the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats initiative, in Lake Forest, Ill., in a Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Chicago Bears 2024, Bailey Black.
It’s a cause near and dear to Canadian NFL linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga and his family.
When the Chicago Bears linebacker from Calgary had an opportunity to participate in the NFL’s My Cause, My Cleats program, he took it to promote the Walnut Foundation, a Brampton-based organization dedicated to the wellness of Black Canadian men with a focus on prostate health.
That’s very important to Ogbongbemiga — whose name is pronounced AY’-men awg-BONG’-beh-MEE’-guh — as his father and grandfather were both diagnosed with prostate cancer. However because the detections came early, they were very treatable and so both men remain very much a part of the 26-year-old NFL player’s life.
“Both my father …