It’s more than football
It seems an odd topic this close to the draft, but… there’s more to football than football.
If you’ve attended the games at the Clink, you’ve seen the signs on the field level boxes… showcasing the players that have foundations that support their roots and their interests. If you’re on Twitter, you’ve seen the tweets… players talking about events they’re putting together to support their causes, bowling, football camps for youth, golf tournaments. There are even special Seahawks events at VMAC supporting causes like breast cancer.
It would be easy to assume that this is all for the public eye, but there’s much more behind the scenes, such as players and coaches participating in local charitable events, not just the highly publicized ones. From my own experience as a manager at a nonprofit, I’ve not only received donations from the Seahawks organization, but players and former players have donated autographed memorabilia to our auctions.
So while there’s often media focus on the scandals linked to pro football… the New Orleans bounty-gate, the Ryan Leaf arrests, the New England Patriots videotaping debacle, the Michael Vick dog fighting, there’s a whole lot of good things happening at a grass roots level that maybe doesn’t get the attention it should.
My favorite event thus far was the celebrity waiter event John and Traci Schneider organized to benefit families whose children were diagnosed with autism. More than a search for a cure, their foundation helps families to afford the expensive therapies that children with autism need. Yes, I have an interest because both my daughter and my grandson are diagnosed with autism.
But, this isn’t about autism or other causes. This isn’t even about the Seahawks. It’s more about the players as individuals. There seems to be a culture attached to the NFL that many players use their celebrity to do good things, for their community and people in general.
I’m not impartial since I already love football as a sport. But it just seems like one more thing to love about football!