WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Offensive lineman Rob Havenstein has fond memories of blasting Metallica with his college friends and in the Rams' weight room. Now, he's excited to support the band's charitable foundation, All Within My Hands, as part of the NFL's My Cause My Cleats initiative.
"(All Within My Hands) is dedicated to creating sustainable communities by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services," according to their website. "The Foundation aims to assist and enrich the lives of members of the communities who have supported the band for years, as well as encourage participation from fans and friends. All funds raised will be donated to a cross-section of national and local charities... every penny from your donations will go directly to our charity partners."
Havenstein believes that "the more good you can do in the world, the better." He hopes that promoting All Within My Hands on his cleats will prompt fans of the Rams and of Metallica to do more research on their foundation, spreading awareness and raising funds for the good they are doing.
Most recently, All Within My Hands donated $100,000 to Feeding America in service of Hurricane Milton relief and as well as $50,000 each to World Central Kitchen and Team Rubicon to assist with Hurricane Helene relief.
"The different communities they hit and obviously being the platform of Metallica, you talk about rock gods, it's such an awesome thing with the workforce education and helping out kids and disaster relief, which has obviously been really apparent in the United States here recently," Havenstein said. "... For them to have their hands in a lot of different things, it was super awesome and obviously I'm really happy I'm able to represent the organization."
The idea was initially brought to a Rams equipment manager, and after Havenstein researched the foundation, he decided to put it on his cleats for Week 14. Unfortunately, Havenstein spats his ankles on game days, which will make the design difficult to see on the field. So, he is relying on his social media and the Rams to spread the word about the foundation and his support of it.
Havenstein has supported a few different charities through the My Cause My Cleats initiative. He started with the Susan G. Komen foundation, which raises awareness and funds for people suffering from breast cancer, which his mom had when he was younger. The last couple years, he supported Warrior Rising, promoting veteran entrepreneurship with former Rams center Austin Blythe.
All of these foundations provide services that Havenstein believes in, and he always wants to support people in need as someone who has the platform to do so.
"I think (My Cause My Cleats) is awesome," Havenstein said. "We're unbelievably blessed to play a game and have the platform that we have and I remember being young and looking up to all these players. To showcase what's in their heart on the other side of football is obviously a really cool thing."
