Former Monroe star supports local foundation with NFL cleats

Published 2:16 pm Thursday, November 27, 2025

MONROE — It may be just one pair of cleats on the New England Patriots sideline on Monday, but it will mean the world to a Monroe family.

Around the NFL, football players use the league’s “My Cause, My Cleats” campaign once per season to shine some light on causes or charities that mean something to them.

Efton Chism III, a 2020 Monroe graduate and NFL rookie, chose the Monroe-based Big Heart, Big Smile Foundation, created in memory of Kaci Edelbrock, who passed away after a motor vehicle accident at six years old in 2018.

The organization, started by Kaci’s mother, Joni Edelbrock, focuses on providing resources to help children deal with grief as well as assisting families in need.

Chism’s choice of footwear for the upcoming Monday Night Football game goes much further back than his brief time in the NFL. Growing up in Monroe, he knew some of the Edelbrock family members and has grown close to the family and foundation over the years. During his record-breaking five-year career at Eastern Washington, he always made the five-hour trek from Cheney to Monroe to participate in the organization’s 5k race.

“Every year we go to the 5k, and (Kaci) is always there in some shape or form,” Chism told The Herald by phone after Patriots practice on Friday. “One year I remember, the sun was just peeking through the clouds at the perfect moment as we’re getting ready to start. If you ask anyone that goes there, you always kind of see a little bit of, ‘Man, that’s Kaci right there.’

So it’s pretty cool just talking to her parents and getting to know them more, and to understand kind of what they went through and how much they have grown and become just huge, not even just for the foundation, but for people of Monroe to look at them as role models. What they’re doing now and how they’re going about their life has been awesome.”

Chism went to school with Joni’s nephew, Colby Kyle, who was a forward on the Monroe basketball team. He also knew Joni’s sons, Lane and Kody Edelbrock. While Chism played in football games for the Bearcats, he wrote “BHBS” in eye black below one eye and “Kaci” below the other, in addition to wearing a Big Heart, Big Smile sticker on his helmet.

The connection continued at Eastern Washington University, where Chism became an All-American after breaking current Seattle Seahawk Cooper Kupp’s single-season record with 120 receptions to go along with 1,311 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2024. He finished his career with 346 catches for 3,852 yards and 37 TDs, and made the Patriots roster as an undrafted player.

For Chism, there was no hesitation for his “My Cause, My Cleats” choice. He reached out to a friend, Mark Stephens, who designed some items for Chism in the past, and asked him to work on his NFL cleats. The shoes feature a K with a halo on the top of the toe area. The outsides of the cleats show the Big Heart, Big Smile logo on one side, with Kaci’s favorite character, Olaf the snowman, from the movie “Frozen” on the other.

“I wanted to put that logo to be that main focal point,” Chism said, “so people would see it and wonder or question, ‘Hey, what is that? Let me look this up.’”

Chism said the entire Monroe community felt the loss of Kaci, and he believes in the importance of the organization’s evolving focus on providing grief resources.

The Edelbrock family certainly knows the weight grief carries. Losing a child is a pain that never goes away, Joni Edelbrock said. She believed meaning existed within the tragedy, and wanted her daughter to make the positive impact on the world she always believed she would.

“We needed to help bring smiles to others,” she said. “We knew how important that is on your darkest days. She made a big impact in her six short years. She was the driving force, and she will always be the driving force.”

Joni started the organization in 2019 with a Kaci Edelbrock Memorial 5k race, which will be held next in May of 2026. Over time, Big Heart, Big Smile added backpack and toy giveaways, as well as scholarship opportunities open to Monroe High School students. During the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants and families received some support to help bridge the gap while businesses were shut down.

Joni’s biggest vision for the organization, however, is to help children deal with grief. That facet, she said, is in its early stages. She met with representatives of the Seattle Seahawks on Monday to discuss the team’s partnership with Big Heart, Big Smile to broaden its reach. She believes the grief resources are crucial, and not always easy to find for the people who need them most.

“Grief is a funny thing, you know?” she said. “I definitely had an experience of, you know, people go back to their normal lives, and I get it. But our life never went back to normal. It can be very isolating when you can’t relate to people, because people can’t relate to you, and some people want to see loss as like, ‘Oh, you’re over it after a year.’ But when it’s your child, you’re never over it. You’re always grieving.”

Chism’s Monday Night Football footwear choice comes from several years of putting himself in others’ shoes.

“It’s one of those feelings where you kind of look to your left or right and look at your family and go like, ‘Man, I’m thankful and blessed to have these people in my life,” Chism said. “I don’t know what that family is going through and how they’re dealing with it. I just know that you can’t put yourself in those shoes and imagine that. … I don’t think words and feelings can really sort out and describe what, what that really is like.”

While his stats as a football player are impressive, Joni — who teared up as she spoke about Chism — believes his impact on people is what’s most impactful.

“He means a lot to so many people in this community, and his character is far greater than any athleticism he has — which is incredible as well,” she said. “… The fact that he’s still tying into his hometown is bigger than any sport. Life is just bigger than any sport. He’s capable of seeing that, even though he’s a professional athlete.

“He’s done his work to get where he’s at, but he still shows up consistently for bigger things. As a mom, to see that someone still remembers your daughter, and remembers the why, the impact that a little person could make on someone else’s life. To see that eye black in the pictures when he’s this phenomenal athlete — there’s really no words for that.”

To learn more about Big Heart, Big Smile, click HERE. To donate, click HERE.