As football fans we get a lot of enjoyment on Sunday afternoons when our favorite teams play well. Seeing the players we root for have success in a game we love makes us feel good about ourselves, as if we’re living vicariously through their accomplishments on the field of play. For me, my sense of pride and enjoyment is a little different. While I believe it’s nice to have a favorite NFL team to watch on Sundays, I’m glad they provide more than weekly entertainment for the people in their communities.
The Carolina Panthers are a team full of players who love to give back. We frequently see stories of players hosting charity events for their numerous causes across the Carolinas, and for me that’s what it’s truly about. Football is an exciting game — that much is true — but making an impact on people outside the boundaries of the field is what really matters in life. The Panthers players have a platform that provides them the ability to make a difference, and I’m thankful that the majority of them take that platform and run with it.
Let’s look at Cam Newton, for example. He’s everyone’s favorite player to hate, but he’s also one of the kindest, most giving players in the league. On Monday night, he held his 5th annual Thanksgiving Jam, where he fed Thanksgiving dinner to 800 children and their families with the help of the Second Harvest Food Bank. And let’s also not forget about the time in 2015 when he heard about a Halloween party for a boy dying of cancer. He didn’t have to do anything, but he showed up unannounced with an ice cream truck for the kids. Oh, and he did this without cameras present. The only reason the media found out is because the family shared what happened on social media.
Defensive end Charles Johnson also does a lot of work in the community. We’ve talked about Johnson’s charity work before, but it deserves to be mentioned again.
From our previous story on the Charles Johnson Foundation:
Johnson provides scholarships for kids in his hometown of Hawkinsville, GA through his foundation. From 2012-2016, Johnson’s foundation has provided scholarships for 12 students in Hawkinsville.
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He’s also provided affordable housing for the elderly in Rock Hill and Columbia, SC with plans to provide more in the future.
It’s easy for me to root for a player who provides housing for the elderly. Being a good football player isn’t the only part of the equation for me. It certainly helps, but it’s the impact you have in the community that deserves the most praise.
Tight end Greg Olsen is another pillar in the community due to his work with The HEARTest Yard Foundation. Through his foundation, Olsen and his wife Kara have provided services for families whose children have been treated for heart defects at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte.
Last week, it was announced that The HEARTest Yard have committed to support a cardiac neurodevelopment program at Levine Children’s hospital.
The Greg Olsen Foundation, in partnership with Carolinas HealthCare System’s Levine Children’s Hospital, announced Tuesday that The HEARTest Yard Fund has committed to support a cardiac neurodevelopment program, which will be the most comprehensive program of its kind in the Southeast.
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The HEARTest Yard program will bridge the gap to ensure families and patients have access to the right care, including early diagnosis, comprehensive evaluation, coordinated care and leading research.
Olsen was nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2016 due to his work in the Charlotte area with The HEARTest Yard, and while he didn’t win - he still made Panthers fans proud to call him one of ours.
Linebacker Thomas Davis founded his Defending Dreams Foundation to give back to the youth of his community in order to help them “develop the essential life and social skills that will make them leaders of tomorrow”.
In a 2016 article from The Players’ Tribune, Davis shared why he gives back to his community.
There were some years when I started school without a backpack, or without pens or binders. It’s not like I was the only one who had to do without them. A bunch of Shellman kids were dealing with the same problems.
There were a lot of things I couldn’t do because my momma didn’t have the financial resources. I’m talking simple things, like going on school field trips to the zoo or wherever. You needed to have money to go on these field trips, but we didn’t have the extra cash. Living from paycheck to paycheck was a very real thing for us. All our money went to two things: food and bills. That was it.
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You should know that each and every time I suit up for the Carolina Panthers, I’m not playing for the fame or the notoriety. Nah, I’m playing for my former self — for the kids and the single mothers living in underprivileged neighborhoods.
I’m not kidding when I say this - I would do anything for that man. Run through a brick wall? Got it. Jump off a building? Okay, which one? The NFL needs more men like Thomas Davis in it. Hell, the world needs more men like Thomas Davis, not just the NFL. If your kids are in search of a player to idolize as a sports hero, please direct their attention to the man wearing #58 for the Carolina Panthers. He’s the kind of person you should want your children be when they grow up.
As Panthers fans, we’re fortunate that we get to watch him suit up every Sunday. In case you’ve been living under a rock these last few years, he’s pretty good at football.
He’s better off the field, though. He’s the 2014 Walter Payton Man of the Year, and for good reason — the work he does off the field to ensure the children in his community are able to achieve their dreams is an example we should all strive to follow.
I’ve used a lot of words to point out something that could be said in just a few — the Carolina Panthers are an organization filled with players who show how much they care through their positive influences off the field, and I’m thankful that they care more about helping others than they do playing a game that we watch on Sundays. I would still cheer for them without their charitable efforts, but seeing them do so much for others makes that decision a whole lot easier to make.