Good morning and welcome to this week's episode of the Sports Curious podcast. This is one of my favorite episodes every year and we are talking about players who give back, athletes who give back. It's something we all do in our homes at this time of year especially, but it's something that is on the minds of these athletes all year round, not just around the holidays.
And here to talk about these people doing great amazing things is my favorite co-founder, my favorite brother, obviously my co-host of the Sports Curious podcast, Scott. Scott, welcome to the podcast. Thank you for having me on for this extremely special episode. It's the season for giving and giving back and nobody does it better than these athletes that we're going to highlight. Not only giving time and money and just support to any of these causes is huge for them.
So I look forward to highlighting a lot of these great acts that the athletes do throughout the year. Yeah, and it's one of those things that I won't say it's easy to write a check because obviously you have to earn the money to write the check and everyone has to give their time, talent or treasure. There's a value to everyone and everyone's participation, whether that's writing a check or participating in handing out food bags or whatever that might be in packing food boxes.
There's time, talent and treasure that is used across the board. And of course that's something that is desperately needed this time of year, but all year round to not just during the holiday season. Let's start off with, I think I would call him the goat of making an impact, but maybe the starfish method. He may not be donating $100 million to something, but he's making an impact one person at a time and that's Shaq. mean, Shaq is the best at this. He's a big man with a big heart, right?
With just random acts of kindness, not necessarily like you said, huge donations at one time. Yesterday I was, or recently I was watching the Dan Patrick show with Shaq on him. He mentioned he was at Walmart doing like a commercial shoot and he noticed a mom with like a few daughters and then his very big son, like massive son, like. which was obviously Shaq size. And he said he kind of watched them shop and noticed that the other kids had stuff in the cart and the big kid obviously did not.
And so he went over to them and asked the mom how much was their budget and what were they shopping for? And he said he just gave them $5,000 right there to go buy the kid some new clothes. That's awesome. He didn't grow up in the best financial situation and being his size, it's quite literally impossible to find shoes and clothes that would actually fit you. So he knows the struggle of being the big man, if you will. Well, right.
And I mean, if you're not a mainstream size, everything's just that much more expensive too. And if you're on a budget, that's just not an option. Yeah, 18 shoe doesn't, you know, isn't out there readily available in most places. And he's been known for doing things where he's seen kids like that, where he's ordered them shoes and sent them size 15, 16 shoes.
Or he's had stories where he's been in Best Buy, I think it pretty sure it Best Buy, buying something and saw a mom trying to figure out how to get a computer for her kid. And was putting it on layaway and he went and just paid for it. And he bought an engagement ring for someone when he was at a jewelry store because the guy was trying to figure out how to finance it. And those little things, it's just...
It's really amazing that $5,000 is a lot of money, don't get me wrong, but to Shaq that's probably not as much money as it is to most of us. And so it's pretty incredible to see what he's doing. you hear stories like, Kurt Warner, the quarterback, former quarterback, NFL quarterback, Hall of Famer, he used to go to dinner with his family. And every time they went out, they would rotate which kid got to pick which table they would buy dinner for.
And so you do those little things that... you know, really do end up having this big impact in the day of social media. We hear more about these stories, but it's pretty incredible to see them make that because it requires some interaction, right?
There's a chance that someone, even if you say, please don't tell them who bought their dinner is going to come over and figure out it to you, or you've got to interact with this family instead of just writing them a check and not having to have any interaction. And so it's pretty cool to see him doing things like that. Yeah. And then there's one of those ones I think is also kind of along the same lines is Cristian Aldo Ronaldo. He's a soccer player, obviously.
He has done things like selling his best soccer player in the world trophy to raise money for Make-A-Wish. He has been known to bring kids in from war-torn countries. I mean, he's really that person that rolls up a sleeve. He's a frequent blood donor. All of these amazing things where he does and he auctions off these trophies and coveted awards for proceeds going to charity for life-saving medical treatments for kids. I mean, it's neat to see these guys really just stepping up.
And I think a lot of these things, I don't know if it's even known that he was the one that paid for it or made that contribution. kind of what he does behind the scenes is massive. he doesn't, for someone who most of his career has been all quite about himself and his appearance and scoring goals, the amount of selfless acts that he's done is pretty remarkable for people who obviously have no other options. would likely not survive without his generous donations. Absolutely, absolutely.
Now, what I want to talk about that this is a very well-rounded give backer is team captain, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cameron Hayward. Now he did win the 2024 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year award for his charitable work. And that is giving out every year to the player in the NFL who has really gone above and beyond with their charitable work. And he has done everything from tackle hunger, to fight cancer, to support literacy, to champion students and teachers.
I mean, talk to me just a little bit about Cameron Hayward. And first I'll just kind of run through the Walter Payton award real quick. If you don't mind, it's, think other than being Super Bowl champion, maybe Super Bowl MVP, that's like the most prestigious award in the NFL. Each team gets to nominate one person to win the award. And the winner gets a donation of 250,000 to a charity of their choice. And each nominee gets 55,000 to do whatever they want with.
So it's, you know, it's a prestigious award that. can impact so many people when it's one. And Cam Hayward, you kind of mentioned the amount of things he does in the Pittsburgh community. I on the field he's dominant and then off the field he's just, he's basically everywhere helping so many different aspects of life in Pittsburgh. He's got the Rufus and Judy Jordan Literacy Project, part of the Hayward House Foundation that he founded in 2020.
He's got, installs little free libraries throughout the community to, you know, improve literacy. He provides over 9,000 nutritious meals for kids. I mean, really it's, it goes on and on what he's done for the community. It's just truly remarkable. And these are all, you know, they take a lot of effort too, on top of playing football. So to have the time away from the field to do it is... Truly just magical. It really is because it does take the thought process, right?
There's so many causes and there's so many great causes out there. And for him to narrow that down to things that really impacted and honored his late grandparents, his father died of brain cancer. he supports the Brain Tumor Foundation, the scholarships for brain tumor patients and their families pursuing post-secondary education. The one I wanted to kind of point out though, when he was sidelined with an injury, for six games last season or the 2023 season.
He invited local high school athletes who were also injured to the Steelers practice facility to watch practice, meet the team and just talk about overcoming adversity, especially, know, if you were injured in the height of your career and that's high school as you're trying to make your way into college, to really have that discussion around some of the challenges that that faces. It's pretty neat to see that he has gone above and beyond.
And there's a saying of those who are given much as expected and he is definitely that person who is really fulfilling that void in the Pittsburgh area. I think the injury, inviting injured kids is like probably one of the most impressive things he's done, Like that can have an impact on those athletes for the rest of their lives and really took no money to do so. And just that personal interaction to think that that would be a great idea while he's going through such a tough time.
Cause being injured in the NFL is not fun. You're not really with the team. You're kind of by yourself in solitude. it's. That's a really, really wonderful thing. Absolutely. And one thing I do want to mention when you're talking about the Walter Payton Man of the Year, now each team has a nominee who will receive up to $55,000 to their charity of choice. And the person who wins, so in this case Hayward, will receive a donation of about $250,000 to the charity of his choice.
So it's really neat to see that they do honor players from each team who are doing great work in stepping up and then they pick the finalist with a winner from... that pool of candidates, if you will. And we've had players like Eli Manning, and I'm blanking on anybody else in the world that I might be thinking of as an Dak Prescott, I think two years ago, I remember he had that amazing speech that everyone kind of remembers, yeah.
He's done some phenomenal work in honor of his brother who committed suicide, his mom who died of cancer. And his speech, I remember you texting me to say, hey, turn this on because it was so good. gave me chills even thinking about the fact about that speech. And it was fantastic. So. Kudos to Cameron Hayward and his family who continue to give back in the Pittsburgh area. Now let's move on to... Let's talk a little about baseball.
Salvatore Perez, who plays for the Kansas City Royals, there's an award in baseball called the Roberto Calente Award, which is bestowed also annually and represents the best person in baseball with character, community involvement, philanthropy, positive contributions on off the field. And Perez, who's a phenomenal baseball player, also gives back in his adopted hometown of Kansas City, but his actual hometown of Valencia Valenzuela, where he grew up.
And in Columbia, where he distributes food and kitchen supplies to nearly 2,000 houses a year, has provided aid to 10,000 families in the area. And like you said, the Roberto Clemente Award is so special because unfortunately, Roberto Clemente passed away in a plane accident on the way to give relief to earthquake victims, I believe. That was it. I he was constantly giving back to his community and where he came from.
And then unfortunately, it ended up costing him his life, but his legacy lives on with this award. And Perez on and off the field. in Kansas City, he's brought them a World Series. And then he's off the field in the community distributing meals, like you said, and provided baseballs to like two over 200 kids, free gear, clinics that promote education safety. He's made donations to like the Urban Youth Academy for a million dollars, which is an incredible amount of money.
And also works with ALS and childhood cancer organizations. Yeah, it's incredible to see what he's done with his abilities. Cruising through to basketball, we've already talked a little bit about Shaq, obviously. I want to talk about, let's just stop and touch really quickly on Michael Jordan, who is a philanthropist. Big word there for me today. He's made multi-million dollar donation. to different organizations for children support.
He has a foundation in honor of his father that supports poor communities in North Carolina and Chicago. And then as Jordan Brand, he set up for success to give back as well. And he's obviously one of the most recognizable and famous athletes on the planet with his young man logo and his shoes continue to remain as popular as ever. Even as far further away we get from his career, I think he gets better and his legacy gets even stronger on the court and off the court.
He's doing amazing things, like you said, and I think he's even opened up hospitals in North Carolina for underprivileged. communities and continues to give hundreds of millions of dollars. Yeah, and his Jordan brand is committed to giving $100 million between 2020 and 2030, which is pretty incredible.
Now let's talk a little bit about the award in the NBA, Walter Kennedy, excuse me, the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, which is very similar capacity as the Roberto Clemente Award and the Walter Payton Award. And C.J. McCollum from the New Orleans Pelicans won that award and it's selected by the Professional Basketball Writers Association. And it can be given to a player, a coach or an athletic trainer. Which is impressive, right?
One of those options and then a player gets it and he has so much impact on the community. And is actually named after the second commissioner, which I think we both just found out about this. So. didn't know this award existed, so I'm so happy to be able share that with our audience. Absolutely. Walter Kennedy, second commissioner of the NBA, and now he's honored with this award.
And CJ's done incredible things with some nonprofits like College Beyond to launch McCollum Scholars for needs-based scholarships that provide 11 scholarships to New Orleans students, up to 100,000 a piece. So he's out there in New Orleans doing incredible things within the community to get people degrees and get them to college. Absolutely, and I think it's neat to see them help those people pursue four-year degrees.
But also part of that is he's offering academic coaching services, mental wellness resources, which I think is a huge capacity, career preparation, internship placement. Those pieces are such challenging pieces of the puzzle. And so to have that support system built in, the work he does with the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Louisiana. where he he's stocked center with new laptops and tablets and smart boards and a library and a podcast studio.
I mean, there's so many things that you see them all do. And I think that's just the capacity to see where we can help those who need it is phenomenal. And that was, I think it's called the, what he opens called the Dream Center. And that was his third Dream Center he's opened and it was the first in Louisiana. So he continues to open up different branches of the Dream Center to help these kids with the beacon of hope and safe haven. Yeah, it's absolutely incredible.
And the last one I want to touch on really quickly before we close out here is Dale Earnhardt Jr. We obviously all know the name. His father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., who was also a NASCAR driver who passed away. Dale Jr., he's raised what, $1.3 million in 2023 and supported 70 groups and organizations, charities. he does, he goes once again back kind of with a starfish method.
He's impacting organizations that include Blessings in Backpacks and Classroom Central and Advocacy Centers and Make-A-Wish Foundation. So he's really diving into these organizations who are doing the work and giving back to those organizations. And it's pretty incredible to see that he's no longer driving race cars, but he's still doing the work and leaving a legacy that would make his family proud.
in retirement, he's got to fill his time with something and he's doing it with great things for the community, supporting all these different organizations. And I'm sure, make-a-wish, I assume there's a lot of driving requests with him, so I'm sure he's got a lot of people wanting to drive with him. And that would be quite scary, to be honest with you.
Yep, if we're being honest, Yeah. Well, it's, you know, you see guys like that, or you see guys like John Cena who hold the record for granting the most wishes through Make-A-Wish, and you see the impact that they're making even from afar, and maybe not in a sport that you watch all the time, but knowing that these athletes are out there making this impact one by one. And so we need, it needs all types, and keep that in mind this holiday season.
as you look to give and time, talent and treasure are all needs in our communities. And thank you, Scott, for sharing this great message with us. And I hope that you all listening will feel a little bit warmer in your heart about the athletes in your community, about those organizations doing the great work in your community and you consider giving back to them however you are able to. So thanks, Scott, and wishing you happy holidays. And I can't wait to celebrate them with you. Thank you.