Mount Laurel, NJ, Feb. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new report from the independent, non-profit National Football League Alumni Association (NFLA) highlights the organization’s engagement of hundreds of NFL Alumni in 2021 to support efforts around its triple mission of “caring for kids,” “caring for our community,” and “caring for our own.”
Working With Chapters Across the U.S. to Support Local Children’s Causes
NFLA and its more than 40 Chapters hosted numerous events and fundraisers, including youth sports camps, toy drives, and golf tournaments in 2021, raising more than $2.6 million to support local organizations and charitable causes. Examples of those who benefited from these efforts included American Family Children’s Hospital, Apache Junction Reach Out, Broward Children’s Center, Center for Child Protection, Children's Dyslexia Center, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Harvesters, HeartShare Human Services of New York, River City Youth Foundation, the Umbrella Club, YMCA, and many others.
Improving the Health and Wellness of Communities
In 2021, NFLA launched initiatives to protect individuals against COVID-19, educate and support those suffering from obesity, raise awareness of and support heart health through screening, explore and participate in research involving regenerative medicine, and raise awareness of efforts to improve brain health. NFLA’s health programs are featured on the NFL Alumni Health website.
As the percentage of COVID-19 cases continued to grow, in 2021, NFL Alumni Health launched the NFLA Health COVID-19 Education and Awareness Campaign in partnership with the CDC, to encourage individuals to talk to their doctors, get the facts, and make an informed decision about vaccination.
More than 80 former and current NFL players have lent their voices to the campaign—many as NFL Alumni Ambassadors—offering public service announcements, serving as media spokespersons, posting on social media platforms, and participating in vaccination events across the country. Participating players have included 24 world champions, 38 Pro Bowlers, and 16 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including NFL greats Cris Carter, Gary Clark, Boomer Esiason, Marshall Faulk, Franco Harris, Justin Jefferson, Howie Long, Anthony Munoz, Shaun O’Hara, Andre Reed, Jerry Rice, Will Shields, Phil Simms, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Rod Woodson.
Working hand in hand with its Chapters, NFLA hosted more than 17 events in 13 cities across the country in 2021, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Dallas, Fargo, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Nashville, Paterson, Phoenix, Richmond, Santa Ana, and Tampa Bay. Several additional events are planned for 2022, including those being held in Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Northern California.
Since August 2021, the NFLA COVID-19 campaign has been featured in more than 390 media stories with 2.9 trillion potential impressions and highlighted through more than 14 million social media impressions.
In 2021, NFLA launched a wellness challenge as part of its awareness and education initiative, Huddle Up! Let’s Talk Obesity. Through this effort, several former NFL players—including Dick Butkus, Mike Golic, Franco Harris, William Perry, and Steve Young—have shared their own personal insights and experiences to encourage open dialogue about the impact of excess weight on overall health. In a recent survey of NFLA members, 40 percent said that they had made a change as a result of the program. Huddle Up Ambassadors were featured in The Dr. Oz Show in October and November with TV viewership totaling nearly 2 million.
The NFLA Health Regenerative Medicine Program with support from the Marcus Foundation hosted six educational sessions involving nationally recognized experts and former players to share the latest science around regenerative medicine, including what questions individuals should be asking before seeking treatment or participating in a clinical trial. A new “patient primer” will be released early this year to support all individuals as they pursue these new therapies.
Through its partnership with Sanford Health—in 2021 NFLA Health offered discounted executive health, weight management, and regenerative medicine programs, as well as senior care and services through the Good Samaritan Society. Both are also partnering to advance research and enable former players to leave a legacy, through the creation of a “biobank.”
In 2021, NFLA also launched a partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association aimed at raising concern and awareness of the Alzheimer’s disease and all of forms of dementia, while also providing care and support resources for those impacted by the disease.
Caring for our Own
With support from NFL and others, NFLA educates and supports NFL Alumni in managing their health, including hosting more than 25 virtual educational offerings and multiple resources on topics such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, COVID-19, mental health, and weight management, as well as programs designed to improve financial health and wellbeing. NFLA also offers several free and discounted health-related services for former players.
NFLA is also helping its members in many other ways. One example is the NFL Alumni Academy, where top-graded free agent players that have been released from NFL training camps are offered an opportunity to further develop their skills and realize their potential to sign with NFL teams by training under the tutelage of elite former NFL coaches and others at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, OH. Working directly with all 32 NFL teams, more than 60 players participated in the program in 2020 and 2021. The Academy saw the majority of its participants receive workouts, sign contracts, and play in games, or join practice squads with NFL teams during the past two seasons.
Also, in support of the NFLA mission of “caring for our own,” in 2021, NFLA launched NFL Alumni Ventures, which is working to generate new income streams for thousands of Alumni. In just the past few months, more than 400 former players have begun earning revenue by participating in NFL Alumni Ventures partnerships with SUPER (a division of Facebook), SIGND, Orange Comet, and NFL Alumni Direct, powered by Millions.co. Through NFL Alumni Direct, players engage with fans by watching sporting events, creating their own custom merchandise lines, and hosting direct-to-consumer videos and live-stream events.
These are just some of the programs that NFLA is offering to former NFL players to further their careers and bolster their physical, mental, spiritual, and financial health after the game.
Read the NFLA 2021 Year in Review report.
For more information about NFL Alumni, go to www.nflalumni.org.
About NFL Alumni
Founded in 1967 by a small group of successful retired NFL players, NFL Alumni is one of the oldest and most well-respected retired player organizations in professional sports. NFL Alumni’s mission is focused on “caring for our own,” “caring for children,” and “caring for our community.” NFL Alumni has multiple entities in place to help it achieve its mission, including it 501(c)3 foundation, NFL Alumni Health, NFL Alumni Ventures, and NFL Alumni Academy.
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