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Junkie
Moderator Emeritus
Location: Chicago
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Dunn calls on NFL players to donate collectively
Quote:
GEORGE HENRY
Associated Press
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - As he flew on the team charter to south Florida this week, Atlanta Falcons running back Warrick Dunn was overcome with dismay over disasters that have followed the path of Hurricane Katrina.
Dunn, a Louisiana native, was so distracted that Falcons coach Jim Mora held him out of Atlanta's 20-17 victory over Miami in the preseason finale Thursday night.
"He was pretty emotional," Mora said. "We just thought it was best for him to stand and watch the game from the sidelines."
It wasn't long before Dunn put his philanthropic experience to work. Believing he could challenge every NFL player to donate $5,000, Dunn realized the league's Players Association could raise $8.48 million to help hurricane victims.
"At first, I thought about $10,000 because right now people need money," Dunn said Friday afternoon. "Everybody's going to try to send clothes, food, but people need money so they can start getting back on their feet. People don't have jobs, clothes on their back. People have lost everything, but I think guys can afford to donate $5,000. There's a lot of guys that make a lot of money."
He hopes that the NFLPA representative on each team can hold a meeting early next week, though the New Orleans Saints are exempt.
Dunn already has contacted Buffalo cornerback Troy Vincent and two of his former Tampa Bay teammates, Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks and Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Warren Sapp.
"I just think we can have a long-lasting effect on people's lives if we can do things together instead of as individuals," Dunn said. "I just felt like when you're sitting at home and everyone's calling you and everyone's pretty much in distress, it's like, 'I have to do something.' "
Katrina has displaced numerous Dunn family members, many of whom live in his hometown of Baton Rouge. He talks several times a day with his brother, Derrick Green, to receive reports and find out who's still missing and who's been tracked down.
"The uncle, the one that nobody one knew where he was at, is in Baton Rouge," Dunn said. "We're still looking for some cousins. My grandfather - he came up. It's just a blessing, but I have so many family members that have just lost everything. Their homes and everything. I have a bunch of friends that are just traumatized. There's still a lot of people they haven't heard from. Their family members, parents, kids separated from their moms."
Dunn, a ninth-year NFL veteran, has a successful background in touching people's lives. With help from the Warrick Dunn Foundation, 45 single mothers have become first-time homeowners and moved into fully furnished houses with 120 children in Atlanta, Baton Rouge and Tampa.
Though his philanthropy in the last seven months earned him the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Award and recognition as Sporting News' No. 1 Good Guy, Dunn insists that the Katrina campaign isn't about promoting his name.
He declined to say how much he will donate personally. Dunn signed a six-year $28.5 million contract when he joined the Falcons in March 2002.
"I can definitely give more than $5,000. I am," Dunn said. "But this is not just about me. It's about getting everyone involved."
Knowing that some potential donors might be skeptical of their money's destination, Dunn believes many agencies, such as the Salvation Army, use the funds wisely.
"We'd have a list of charities, and say, 'These are the ones that effective. Which ones do you want to do?' This lets guys vote on where they want to put money, and we can put money in different areas," Dunn said. "Guys want to see where the money's going to be used, not just that you're giving it to somebody and one half's going to overhead and one's half going someplace else. They want to know that it's being used and used right."
Dunn's team, which opens the regular season Sept. 12 against Philadelphia, is also raising money through its online store at Atlanta's Perimeter Mall. The club promises to donate 10 percent of all sales and the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation will match all the donation funds to the American Red Cross from those sales.
Also, on Saturday from 2-4 p.m., linebacker Keith Brooking, quarterback Matt Schaub, defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux, receivers Michael Jenkins and Brian Finneran and fullbacks Justin Griffith and Fred McCrary will appear at the Perimeter Mall store. The first 400 fans are guaranteed an autograph.
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Nice to see the good guys exist in football too.. .
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Free your heart from hatred. Free your mind from worries. Live simply. Give more. Expect less.
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