Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick was in a bind Sunday afternoon.
The Bengals were practicing at West Carrollton High School, about an hour away from the team's practice facility in downtown Cincinnati. Kirkpatrick got off the bus, rummaged through his bag, and realized he had no cleats. At that point, there was no going back to get them.
So he had to improvise.
"I was looking around and saw that Coach [Marvin Lewis] was addressing some of the [high school] team," Kirkpatrick said. "I just went over and I asked him if anybody had a pair."
Lucky for Kirkpatrick, West Carrollton senior Bryan Jones had a pair on hand. It wasn't a perfect fit, as the cleats were one size too big. That meant Kirkpatrick had to go to the training table twice during practice to get his ankles taped and retaped.
A worried fan in the crowd of 6,000 on hand to watch practice yelled a question from the bleachers after Kirkpatrick's second trip to visit the athletic trainer.
"Are you injured?" the fan shouted.
Kirkpatrick smiled and shook his head.
"It worked out pretty good," Kirkpatrick said. "It was just a blessing that he was there and he had his cleats. I want to tell him I appreciate him."
When practice was over, Kirkpatrick made sure to sign the shoes and send them back. Standing there in his socks, he signed autographs for at least 20 minutes more before he realized he was the last Bengal left on the field.
Then Kirkpatrick, shoeless, sprinted off to catch the bus.