Navy football lost a member of its brotherhood late last month when Chris Wade passed after a brief battle with cancer. Wade, who had his wife and mother by his side, died at his home in Monroe, North Carolina, at age 44.
Wade was a 2004 graduate of the Naval Academy and played linebacker for the football team. He played on several special teams units for the 2003 team that went 8-5 to put an end to five straight losing seasons for Navy football.
Wade was commissioned as a Marine Corps officer and served eight years in the supply corps. He did two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq.
Wade worked full-time as a procurement manager for NewIndy, a corrugated box mill located in Catawba, South Carolina. However, he possessed an artistic spirit and combined that with a true love of football to establish the Wade Custom Shoe Company.
Using YouTube videos and other resources, Wade taught himself how to build shoes from scratch and became nationally recognized for his work. Wade poured his heart and soul into the company, which had the blue collar slogan of “Work Hard, Stay Humble, Make Shoes.”
Wade discovered his unique hobby in 2020 while forced to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic. After spending a year refining his craftsmanship, Wade set a goal of designing customized cleats for professional athletes and started by contacting three former Navy players that were on NFL rosters in 2021.
Having learned about the “My Cause, My Cleats” that allows NFL players to “reveal their passions beyond the game and wear their hearts on their feet,” Wade pitched his talents to New England Patriots long snapper Joe Cardona, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Malcolm Perry and Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Cameron Kinley.
All three Naval Academy graduates agreed to wear specially designed cleats created by Wade.
Unfortunately, Perry and Kinley were both cut at the end of training camp that year and never got to wear their “My Cause, My Cleats” in a regular season game.
However, Cardona did wind up wearing cleats with a patriotic theme that were built by Wade. He asked Wade to design cleats that recognized the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11 along with service members killed during the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Cardona's left cleat featured an image of the Pentagon with the “Don't Forget” slogan imprinted on the heel. Also included were NYPD and FDNY in honor of the New York City police and fire departments along with the words “Honor, Courage, Commitment.”
Cardona's right cleat honored the 13 service members killed during the Aug. 26 terrorist attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Wade imprinted the names of the 11 Marines, as well as one Army soldier and one Navy personnel, who died. Also included were the numbers 2/1 to represent the 2nd battalion, 1st Marines.
Cardona told The Capital “it was an easy ask” to work with Wade on the specialty cleats and his endorsement gave the fledgling company legitimacy. Wade was further assisted by classmate and fellow former Navy football player Sean Magee, who worked as chief of staff for the Chicago Bears during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Wade wound up designing “My Cause, My Cleats” for Bears coach Matt Eberflus along with players Zacch Pickens and Chase Claypool. He also designed specialty cleats for Miles Sanders of the Carolina Panthers and Cole Christensen of the Kansas City Chiefs.
“The shoe company was Chris' passion and he was so excited about how it blew up,” said Ralph Henry, another classmate and former teammate.
Henry settled in the Charlotte area and reconnected with Wade as the two had always been close while part of the Navy football program. Henry and Wade shared a special connection as they had the same birthday.
“No matter where we were in the world on Feb. 26, we always figured out a way to reach out to each other and say 'Happy Birthday Bro,' which was always the coolest thing,” said Henry, a Baltimore native who graduated from Eastern High.
Henry and Wade lived about 45 minutes apart and the latter stopped by the former's house for a visit about a year ago. Wade mentioned to Henry that he'd been experiencing stomach pain and chalked it up to digestive issues, vowing to get checked out by a doctor.
This past November, the Naval Academy Class of 2004 held its reunion as part of a Navy football home game and Henry crossed paths with Wade while visiting campus.
“I ran into Chris at Ricketts Hall and noticed he had lost weight. Chris told me he had not been eating a whole lot because he didn't have much of an appetite,” recalled Henry, who urged Wade to seek medical attention.
Wade made a doctor's appointment upon returning to North Carolina and learned he had a cancerous tumor on his small intestine. He underwent surgery to remove the tumor, but it was discovered during the operation that the cancer had spread to his liver.
“It was the saddest thing because no one thought this would happen so fast,” Henry said of Wade's death just over a month later. “Chris was just a solid, solid individual who was all about faith and family. He was a really hard-working guy who was always grinding. Chris will be greatly missed by many.”
The Navy Football Brotherhood organization has launched a fundraising initiative aimed at supporting Wade's family. They have set a goal of paying off the mortgage for Wade's home to ease the burden on his wife and creating a scholarship fund for his eldest daughter.
Wade is survived by his wife of 10 years, Leslie, and four children — 18-year-old Lola, 14-year-old Channing, 8-year-old Sam and 2-year-old Jordan. He is also survived by parents Luther and Pam of Wilmington, North Carolina, along with sister April Berndt, her husband, Dan, and their three children.
