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Jewish NFL player Greg Joseph kicks 36-yard game-winning field goal after wearing cleats declaring ‘I Stand with Israel’
(JTA) — A 3-0 score is extremely rare in the NFL.
But when the Minnesota Vikings beat the Las Vegas Raiders Sunday night in the league’s lowest-scoring game since 2007, the moment held extra significance for the player who scored those three points.
Vikings kicker Greg Joseph, one of only a handful of Jewish players in the NFL, had worn cleats before the game that showed support for Israel as part of the league’s “My Cause, My Cleats” program. His shoes displayed Stars of David and the phrases “I Stand with Israel” and “Am Yisrael Chai,” or “the Jewish people lives.” (A Vikings spokesman said Joseph opted to wear his usual cleats during the game itself.)
Joseph’s game-winning kick came on a 36-yard field goal — a number that also happens to have meaning in Judaism.
The cleats worn by Minnesota Vikings kicker Greg Joseph as part of the NFL’s “My Cause, My Cleats” campaign. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings)
“We were honored to be able to participate in the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats program to call for the end to antisemitism and hate in all forms along with the urgent plea to bring home the remaining hostages,” Vikings owner Mark Wilf said in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Wilf, who also owns Orlando’s men’s and women’s professional soccer teams, is heavily involved in Jewish causes. He is currently serving as the chairman of the board of the Jewish Agency for Israel, which promotes and facilitates immigration to Israel. Wilf also wore custom pro-Israel cleats at Sunday’s game, as did Vikings chief operating officer Andrew Miller, who is Jewish.
“As an NFL franchise, we have a responsibility to use our platform to make a positive impact in our community,” Miller told JTA. “My shoes reflect the recent rise in antisemitism and the goal of ending hate of all kinds.”
Stop Antisemitism.#Vikings COO Andrew Miller and Daniel Wilf are calling for end to antisemitism and acts of hate today for #MyCauseMyCleats. pic.twitter.com/i6Qdx28X02
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 10, 2023
Joseph told JTA in 2021 that he has been involved in Jewish communities in each city where he’s played. In October, he launched a “Kicks for Israel” PledgeIt campaign, which raised about $8,000 for Leket Israel, the country’s national food bank, and another $56,000 for the organization in private donations, according to an announcement by the Vikings. He chose the food bank as the cause for his cleats, too.
Join me in my Kicks for Israel campaign this season as I pledge to make a difference in Israel during these tragic and unprecented times. Help us support @leketisrael with donations for food and clean water for the affected innocent civilians! @Vikings https://t.co/aSCcki9kYg
— Greg Joseph (@greg_joseph1) October 17, 2023
Joseph’s former college teammate, Tennessee Titans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, used his cleats to raise money for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
“Given the recent events in Israel and Gaza, this nonprofit provides medical aid and essential supplies to children injured and left homeless by the bombings in Gaza,” the Titans’ website says.
“So, for me it’s obvious like, I kind of use like world peace as a whole,” Al-Shaair told local sports anchor Kayla Anderson in a Nov. 30 interview. “But, more specifically, the things that are going on in Gaza, innocent men, women, and children being bombed. Like deprived of basic necessities, it’s just insane.”
During a 2020 panel on Jews in the NFL, held in the wake of the DeSean Jackson antisemitism controversy, Joseph recalled his relationship with Al-Shaair.
“I have a very good friend who was my teammate in college, he’s on the 49ers now, and he’s Muslim,” Joseph said, referring to Al-Shaair. “We’ve had great talks about that, you know.”
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The post Jewish NFL player Greg Joseph kicks 36-yard game-winning field goal after wearing cleats declaring ‘I Stand with Israel’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.