'Hawks Talk: Cancer-awareness helmets

The Miami RedHawks played for more than just a victory against Kent State on Saturday. They played for a cause.

Instead of sporting an "M" on both sides of his headgear, each RedHawk wore a helmet with a colored ribbon on the right side. The players picked from nine different color choices, with each ribbon color representing a different cancer.

They all took the field with someone in their minds and on the side of their heads.

Senior defensive lineman Pasquale Calcagno (White ribbon - lung cancer): "Personally, it really hit home for me because I've had a couple people in my life who've gone through cancer. It meant a lot that, as a team, we could represent all cancers rather than just breast cancer - how it's traditionally represented in October."

Redshirt senior running back Kenny Young (Green ribbon - representing liver, ovarian and cervical cancer): "It was really good to be able to celebrate awareness for all cancers instead of just breast cancer."

Senior offensive lineman Sam McCollum (Orange ribbon - kidney cancer and leukemia): "I had a family friend back at home who passed away from leukemia. It was an amazing opportunity to go out and represent that in football."

Sophomore defensive back Mike Brown (Pink ribbon - breast cancer): "I wore pink for my aunt, Paula. She died of breast cancer when I was five years old, so I think it's a great remembrance of her."

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Head coach Chuck Martin, who couldn't wear a ribbon: "It was a very emotional week with the game and the cancer-awareness. The idea of the helmets was such a good idea. The kids really were excited about that. It was a really good idea just for everything, but our kids really liked the idea. They got to pick something that meant something to them."