LOWELL — Each year, players in the National Football League are given the opportunity to showcase a certain cause or charity on the field through customized artwork on their cleats.

The causes represented by the players can vary greatly. Some use the effort to highlight organizations conducting cancer and other medical research, while others, like Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, support organizations like the Special Olympics of Massachusetts.

One of Maye’s offensive linemen, fellow second-year player Caedan Wallace, chose to support Heading Home, a nonprofit helping those who struggle with homelessness to get emergency shelter as well as transitional and permanent housing. Heading Home now operates a shelter in the former UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, where Caedan visited Tuesd

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