Much of the New England Patriots football operation, including Evan Rothstein's office, is at field level inside Gillette Stadium's front offices.
Just upstairs from where the assistant quarterbacks coach/director of game management works is the headquarters for the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS).
"It's a really cool foundation that the Krafts established, and it hits home with me," Rothstein said.
"I'm Jewish. It's of a high level of importance to me. I think in today's day and age with everything going on, it's important to support such a positive message about bringing people together to stand against hate."
Rothstein will represent FCAS on his customized shoes in Week 13 against the Indianapolis Colts, as the Patriots participate in the NFL's My Cause My Cleats initiative. The non-profit was established in 2019 by Patriots chairman and CEO Robert Kraft, two years before Rothstein arrived in New England in a research and analysis role.
Seeing an alarming rise in antisemitism and general hate across the country, Kraft hoped to counter it through national media campaigns and partnerships within sports to inspire Americans to take a stand against all hate. Rothstein, ascending through New England's ranks, was aware of the work FCAS was doing just one story above, but the Oct. 7th attacks on Israel brought Kraft's mission more front of mind for Rothstein.
"When I first got here, I became more aware of the foundation, but certainly October 7th last year brought a bigger spotlight to what he's trying to accomplish there," Rothstein said.
"I think the overall unifying message that if we remain silent, hate wins. If one minority group is on the receiving end, eventually that will spread to all different groups. It's a great message FCAS spreads through commercials and social media to try and combat the sheer volume of things said online, and particularly, false information about a lot of different minority groups. Spearheading that and bringing a clear, concise message to everyone is pretty cool."
The assistant coach admires FCAS' approach to combating the volume of misinformation online through education, and sees My Cause My Cleats as a great way to showcase something important to him that also betters the world.
One design feature of Rothstein's custom shoes is the "blue square" symbol that has become synonymous with FCAS' #StandUpToJewishHate campaign.
"I had great help upstairs, I'm pretty excited about it," Rothstein says. "The conciseness of the blue square and how simple the logo is, yet, how that portrays something so significant is pretty cool to me. I hope the shoes do the same thing."
From traditions to his community involvements growing up in Merrick, N.Y., Rothstein says his Jewish faith has manifested in a lot of aspects of his life. It's ingrained in who he is.
He appreciates that even beyond Week 13, the work for his cause will continue just upstairs at Gillette Stadium.
"It means a lot," said Rothstein. "It's another part of why it's fun to come into work knowing that you're not only working for an organization that does everything it can to win football games, but also one that is trying to make the world a better place."
