There are several huge sports stars who transcend their sports and become iconic household names. This includes people such as Serena Williams, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James and Tiger Woods. Part of what makes these athletes so endearing to millions of us around the globe is not only how they reached the pinnacle of their field but how generous they are to those less fortunate. For example, the Tiger Woods Foundation has provided over $30m in grants, internships and scholarships.
Tiger Woods is one of the most recognizable names in world sport, considered by many to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. His glittering career includes captaining the winning USA team in the Presidents Cup in 2019 – their eighth successive triumph in the competition. Here, you can find the best odds online for the Presidents Cup Golf Tournament this year.
Tiger Woods and Serena Williams are two of the most iconic examples of sports stars and their philanthropy. However, other sports see the same levels of charity given by their iconic stars.
Plenty of NFL legends, both active and retired, dedicate their spare time to charitable causes or foundations in their name. We will look at some of the big names and the charities to which they pledge so much of their energy, money and time.
Jimmy Graham
Jimmy Graham has been one of the top NFL players in the last decade. His achievements on the pitch are vast and stack up against many of the sport’s legends. He battled adversity in his youth, being raised in a group home and regularly beaten. This is perhaps one of the driving factors that drove him to set up The Jimmy Graham Foundation. He pledges his money and time to help at-risk youth and military veterans struggling with illness and injuries after combat. As well as this, Graham is also a pilot. He is the co-chairman of the Young Eagles foundation, which introduces children to the world of aviation.
Peyton Manning
Manning is considered by many to be the greatest quarterback ever. His stats and big-game performances certainly support this claim. A slightly lesser-known fact about Manning is the wide-ranging charity work he has conducted during his time as a player and since his retirement. After Hurricane Katrina, he volunteered his time and money to help by handing out essential supplies on the ground. His brother Eli, part of the Manning footballing dynasty, also got involved in these efforts.
Peyton and Eli have a close brotherly bond, which plays out both in their charitable endeavors and professional careers. Although they have both since retired, they can still be found on television, hosting their Monday night football show on ESPN.
The Peyback Foundation is a charity set up by Manning to help underprivileged children. Peyton has received many accolades for his charitable endeavors, and a children’s hospital in Indianapolis, where he spent most of his star-studded career as a player, is named after him.
As well as providing support for charities throughout his career, Manning has inspired many people to take up the sport, due to his ability and star quality. Many inspirational sports quotes that give an insight into how the mind of a top-level athlete works are attributed to him.
Warrick Dunn
Dunn’s charitable efforts are truly inspiring. He has received a number of different awards for his dedication to charitable endeavors. After Hurricane Katrina, he challenged every NFL player to donate $5,000 to the relief fund, raising millions of dollars for the disaster victims.
The most noteworthy of the causes that Dunn is involved with is the Homes for the Holidays program. This program rewards single-parent families for reaching first-time homeownership. Dunn passionately believes that having a stable home can provide the bedrock for families to prosper and thrive socially and economically. For his work in this field, he has received accolades from the highest levels of office, with ex-US President Bill Clinton praising his off-field efforts.
He has assisted hundreds of people through this program and has a network of charities called the Warrick Dunn Charities, which he started 20 years ago, that continue to assist underprivileged persons to this day.
Although we have only touched on a handful of NFL stars, there are many others who could have made our list. Sport is one of the great communicators across social divides, and when players reach back and give something back to the communities that helped them achieve their dreams, everybody benefits.
