Detroit Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy is giving up his shoes -- most of them, anyway.
The 28-year-old, who recently agreed to a four-year contract extension, posted on his Instagram account that he will be selling over 100 pairs of sneakers from his collection and donating the proceeds to three charities: Detroit Workers and Builders, The Empowerment Plan and one other to be named later.
The two identified charities focus, respectively, on rebuilding Detroit and on helping homeless people in Detroit find jobs.
Levy told AOL in an interview published late Sunday that he has spent the past two years trying to change the way he lives and that collecting sneakers "no longer aligns with the human I want to be."
"I was trying to be part of a culture that to me became about excessive consumerism and materialism," Levy said in the AOL interview. "I'm making an effort to live smaller to an extent. This is a small step.
"You see people literally killing each other over a Jumpman logo or another brand that couldn't care less about you, as long as you're spending money on each and every release. I had a blind, faithful allegiance to keep up with the latest and 'most exclusive' sneakers."
Levy said he now wears the same pair of grey Nikes "90 percent of the time."
Levy has seven pairs of shoes for sale on eBay at this point -- ranging in bids from $102.50 to $600. In his account, which has been open for two months, he has sold at least four pairs already, ranging from $75 to $255 based on feedback from eBay customers.
In the interview, Levy said he spent most of his Pell Grant money from Wisconsin on a pair of Vegas Sole Collector Dunk shoes that were released, he believes, in 2006. He did not expand in the interview on how much of his Pell Grant money he used on the shoes.
Pell Grants are given to students in financial need to help pay for college. Unlike college loans, however, these grants do not need to be repaid.
On Tuesday, he clarified his comments about using the Pell Grant money on shoes.
"I was joking a little bit but I used some of the money for extra stuff that I wanted," he said.