Florida Gators

LAS VEGAS — The Florida football players piled out of a van into the cool, sunny morning here on Thursday at CP Squires Elementary School. A 6-foot-6 man in size 15 sneakers and his wife were the first people they met.

Nikki and Tony Berti founded what is now known as the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation 19 years ago. The non-profit organization provides shoes and socks throughout the school year to underprivileged kids in Southern Nevada.

The group of Gators defensive players arrived as part of a charity event run by the Las Vegas Bowl. Following a short introduction, the players knew why they were there and got to work.

Defensive backs Jason Marshall Jr., Trey Dean III and Rashad Torrence II took seats at the autograph table. Linebackers Amari Burney, Scooby Williams and Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr. played soccer and football on a field with the kids. Defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr., positioned by a mountain of soccer balls, handed them out as Christmas gifts. Meanwhile, defensive tackle Chris McClellan, who like Tony Berti plants his feet in size 15 shoes, assisted the kids at the shoe racks as they picked out their new sneakers. As Nikki Berti raced around the grounds with her camera to document the event, her husband reflected on how a Thursday morning two days before Florida faces Oregon State has meant so much to the local community and the Berti family.

It all started in the mid-1990s when Berti, a member of Colorado's 1990 national championship team and the starting left tackle who helped clear the way for 1994 Heisman Trophy-winning running back Rashaan Salaam, was an NFL rookie with San Diego.

Veteran offensive lineman Stan Brock, who also played in college at Colorado, took Berti under his wing. Brock participated in community events with the Chargers and took Berti to a Payless Shoe Drive the team sponsored.

"It made an impact on me and my wife,'' Berti said. "We loved it. It was one of my favorite events to do. That event resonated and stuck with us when we retired here in Vegas."

In 2003, Nikki and Tony co-founded a similar event in Las Vegas. That grew into the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation, which now hosts around 25 to 27 events during the school year. The organization currently operates from a specially built tractor-trailer and has served more than 130,000 kids over the past two decades.

The organization began to partner with the Las Vegas Bowl in 2009. Its annual holiday event is one of the biggest, and Florida and Oregon State players participated on Thursday. Berti is incredibly proud that kids not only get a new pair of shoes but that they are measured on-site and get to pick out their shoes from racks that include all the major popular brands. Approximately 400 kids received new shoes at Thursday's event.

"I grew up probably one of the kids we would have served,'' said Tony Berti, who grew up in Denver. "My parents didn't have a lot of money. It was difficult for my parents to get new shoes. These kids get to pick their own shoes. For some of them, that's a good thing because some of the kids don't get to choose what they eat, what they wear. They get a lot of hand-me-downs.

"It's very rewarding. Shoes have such a status symbol, and the ability to pick out your own pair of shoes is big. These kids are not just getting handed a pair of shoes."

Berti, who played four seasons with the Chargers and spent six in the NFL until injuries forced him from the game, took in the scene as the players and kids mingled.

Burney appeared to be having as much fun as the kids as he tossed around a football. He related to the kids because he could remember when he was in elementary school attending a community service event that former Gators receiver Louis Murphy attended.

Murphy, the former UF receiver, is from St. Petersburg, where Burney grew up.

"It was a special memory. He kind of gave me the insight to be a Florida Gator," Burney said. "It's a very good experience just to come out here and put smiles on these kids' faces. They look at us like heroes.

"The kids see you on TV, and they kind of look at you as untouchable, and then when you come out here, they're like, 'oh, he's just like us.' I had a kid over there tell me he plays receiver. He wanted to route me up a little bit and do one-on-ones."

Berti had a smile on his face, too.

"It's a lot of fun for the kids,'' he said. "They get to meet these college athletes. Sometimes, these college athletes leave more inspired than the kids. It's kind of fun to see that." An hour later, when the Gators' time was up, Nikki Berti thanked the players for coming out and told them she was born in Sarasota and a native Floridian. Several of her relatives attended UF.

A couple of Gators joked that she better be rooting for them Saturday.

And then they piled back into the van for the ride across town. They had practice in a couple of hours, so it was back to their familiar routine.

But like the hundreds of kids with new sneakers, they had a good memory to take with them.

"I always like to give back to the community, especially to kids who are underprivileged," McClellan said. "I just like going out there and giving them a good role model to look up to. When I was younger, my school used to do stuff like this. To be a part of that now is really cool."

Did McClellan hand out any size 15s?

"They didn't have my size up there."