Georgia artist goes big for Pro Bowl cleats of Atlanta Falcons rookie Kyle Pitts

The conversation started casually, as it usually does whenever Curtis Booth inquires about whether a player wants his cleats to look like more than what comes out of the box from Nike, Adidas or UnderArmour.

Kenny Osuwah, assistant equipment manager for the Atlanta Falcons, reaches out. Or sometimes Booth hears from the player himself. Then, as the relationship is formed, Booth will reach out on his own. Which is how the idea came up to have what Falcons rookie tight end Kyle Pitts has on his feet at the Pro Bowl on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, ESPN) look like anything but a normal pair of shoes.

What you’ll see on Pitts’ size 15s came from the mind of a 30-year-old working in a converted sun room turned office in his Lithonia, Georgia, home with his 2-year-old goldendoodle, Jaxson, looking on.

How Booth ended up here — as the main shoe artist of the Falcons — was a matter of happenstance.

He had noticed the Falcons’ social media team had posted on Instagram about players representing their area codes. One player mentioned the 252 and looked familiar. He Googled him and realized he’d taken a picture with a friend of his.

The friend? The sister of former Atlanta receiver Justin Hardy. He reached out. Offered to do some cleats for him gratis. If Hardy liked his work, Booth would love to work with him. Hardy did. The message spread.

And now it’s a main part of Booth’s $250 a pair gig. The footwear from the Falcons’ My Cause, My Cleats campaign has often been Booth’s work. As has every pair of cleats running back Cordarrelle Patterson had made this season –from the ones campaigning for a new contract to raising awareness for infant loss.

For Pitts, whom Booth first worked with on a pair of Florida Gators cleats in the…