Sunday’s Big Game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots is expected to draw 117 million television viewers. That many pair of eyeballs, plus Lucas Oil Stadium's 68,000 screaming fans, means that the game's winning formula will most likely be forged in a crucible of incalculable pressure. When NFL Comissioner Roger Goodell finally takes to midfield to award the Vince Lombardi trophy to the winning team, he will also crown the game’s Most Valuable Player. Will it be Eli Manning, Tom Brady, or some heretofore unsung footballer? Only time will tell. One thing’s for sure: whichever gridironer takes home that prestigious piece of hardware, he will have big shoes to fill—on, but especially off, the field. We salute six former Super Bowl most valuable players for their benevolent endeavors.
Peyton Manning - Super Bowl XLI - 2007
Since the late 1990s, the Indianapolis Colts’ all-world quarterback has supported disadvantaged children in Tennessee, where he attended college, and in Indiana, where he lives, through his organization, The Peyback Foundation. In 2005, Manning helped to collect and deliver 30,000 pounds of water, Gatorade, infant formula, diapers and pillows to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. "The whole town is like family, so it's very much a personal issue," said Manning, son of longtime New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning. Two years later, Manning’s charity work reached new heights when the St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis was renamed the "Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St. Vincent" after he and his wife donated an undisclosed sum.
The tough-as-nails Pittsburgh Steelers receiver established the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation to improve literacy amongst inner-city youths. In May 2006, the Pennsylvania-based charity went global, expanding to South Korea to help mixed-race children. "I know what it’s like to endure teasing and to be treated differently because of the color of your skin or the looks of your eyes," said Ward, who was born to an African-American soldier father and Korean mother and grew up in the United States.
Donate to the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation.
(Photo: Jason Cohn/Reuters)
Deion Branch – Super Bowl XXXIX – 2005
The New England Patriots receiver established the Deion Branch Charitable Foundation in 2002 after his son Deiondre came down with meningitis as an infant. Today, the boy lives at a home for children in crisis in Louisville. The organization focuses on assisting the Meningitis Foundation of America, and Branch has filmed a public service announcement for the March of Dimes. "The more I push, the more exposure I get, the more the foundation benefits," said Branch, to the Seattle Times.
For the better part of two decades, the former San Francisco 49er quarterback and current NFL analyst has given back to a plethora of charitable endeavors. In 1993, while he was still in his prime, Young established the Forever Young Foundation, an organization that aids kids facing significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges.
Since retiring in the mid 1990s, the former Washington Redskins signal-caller has devoted his waking hours to running the Rypien Foundation. The organization was founded in 2004 in memory of Rypien's son Andrew, who died from cancer at age three in 1998. The foundation provides hope and help to families who are fighting childhood cancer. Last fall, it donated $3 million to establish a children's emergency room within a hospital in Spokane, Washington.
Heisman Trophy winner and Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famer quarterback Roger Staubach approaches philanthropy a little differently than other superstar athletes—he prefers to almost always donate his own money to his nonprofit organization than solicit outside donations. "If you have a foundation, it's very instrumental that you be putting your own wealth into it," said Staubach. "I would feel guilty if we had the Staubach Foundation and we just solicited money into it and it didn't hurt me, as far as coming out of my pocket." His organization has supported the Children's Cancer Fund and the Genesis Women's Shelter. Upon the death of Staubach and his wife, a large portion of their assets will be donated to the nonprofit.
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