NFL Players Give Back for Thanksgiving

For Immediate Release
November 23, 2017

NFL PLAYERS GIVE BACK FOR THANKSGIVING

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The NFL Players Association is proud to have player members who understand the true meaning of Thanksgiving by making a positive impact on their hometowns and team cities. The below list is just a sample of the unique and important ways in which current NFL players have embraced the seasonal spirit and poured back into their communities.

Happy Thanksgiving from the NFLPA!

Mario Addison
Carolina Panthers
Partnered with the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District to provide Thanksgiving turkeys for more than 300 families living in public housing in his Alabama hometown.

Kamar Aiken
Indianapolis Colts
The wide receiver led a meal giveaway at Chase Eastside Legacy Community Center, where 200 families were provided a turkey, pumpkin pie, potatoes, corn, green beans, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy.

Tavon Austin
Los Angeles Rams
Hosted his fourth annual Turkey Share in Baltimore at Gwynn’s Falls Elementary School, where 300 turkeys and sides were distributed, along with free hats and gloves.

Mark Barron
Los Angeles Rams
The Prichard, Ala. Native held a turkey drive on Nov. 18 for the citizens of Mobile, Prichard and surrounding areas. Barron and his mother received keys to the city during the fun-filled day.

Kelvin Beachum
New York Jets
This player rep was busy during the holiday. First, he sponsored a meal distribution to needy families at on Nov. 20 and donated $5,000 for produce at the Food Bank in New York City. Then, for #GivingTuesday on Nov. 28, the Central Texas Food Bank, where Beachum is ambassador at large will hold a fundraiser to match his initial $50,000 donation. If matched, the offensive lineman will donate $50,000 more, which will help provide 600,000 meals for communities in need.

Matt Bosher, Matt Bryant and Josh Harris
Atlanta Falcons
Provided Thanksgiving dinner, signed autographs and posed for photos at My Sister’s House, a homeless shelter for women and children.

Terrence Brooks
New York Jets
Visited the Apostles’ House in Newark. N.J. to serve a Thanksgiving lunch to 50 single mothers and their children at the shelter. The event was an extension of the Terrence Brooks Foundation, which looks to help single-parent households and at-risk youth.

Morgan Burnett
Green Bay Packers
Teamed with New Community Shelter to feed 100 families with full Thanksgiving meals as part his first annual turkey drive through the Morgan Burnett Foundation.

Darius Butler
Indianapolis Colts
Sponsored two Thanksgiving dinner giveaways – one for 200 families in need at the LifeNet 4 Families food pantry in his hometown of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and one for 100 families in need in his team city of Indianapolis.

Jurrell Casey
Tennessee Titans
Pro Bowl defensive lineman surprised 10 families with a $100 Kroger gift card on Nov. 22 to help ease the financial burden during the holiday season.

Thomas Davis
Carolina Panthers
This NFLPA Executive Committee member hosted his annual Dinner of Hope on Nov. 21 for families at the local battered women’s shelter.

Carlos Dunlap, Michael Johnson, Brandon LaFell, Carl Lawson and Ced Ogbuehi
Cincinnati Bengals
The teammates volunteered at the City Gospel Mission to serve Thanksgiving dinner and take families shopping at the grocery exchange on Nov. 21.

Dominique Easley, Aaron Donald & Carlos Thompson
Los Angeles Rams
The trio of teammates joined forces with Big Brothers Big Sisters Los Angeles at their headquarters on Nov. 21 to provide meals to 30 families in need.

Travis Frederick
Dallas Cowboys
Teamed with FOX Sports Southwest to expand on his Travis’ Pantry outreach program by providing 35 boxes of Thanksgiving food to the families of Trinity Basin Preparatory School.

Cameron Heyward & Maurkice Pouncey
Pittsburgh Steelers
Distributed Thanksgiving meals to 400 families through two separate events in North Side, Duquesne and surrounding communities of Pittsburgh.

Tyreek Hill, Allen Bailey and Albert Wilson
Kansas City Chiefs
Teammates worked together through Tyreek Hill’s Foundation and Harvesters Community Food Network for the first annual “Three Chief Turkey Giveaway,” where they distributed turkey, sides and other non-perishables to nearly 100 families at the Redemptorist Center/Pantry in Kansas City.

Houston Texans offensive line
Kyle Fuller, Greg Mancz, Nick Martin, Jeff Allen, Xavier Su’a-Filo, Julien Davenport, Chris Clark, Breno Giacomini, Kendall Lamm and Derek Newton came together to donate Thanksgiving dinner to 100 families in Houston’s Third Ward on Nov. 22.

Melvin Ingram
Los Angeles Chargers
Ingram’s third annual Thanksgiving giveaway will distribute 250 turkeys to families in need in his hometown of Hamlet, N.C. on Nov. 22. The event is a joint effort by Ingram’s Mission Possible Foundation, The Learning House, Ingram’s family and five of his Chargers teammates including Keenan Allen, Melvin Gordon and Casey Hayward.

Grady Jarrett
Atlanta Falcons
Hosted a Thanksgiving dinner at The Shepherd’s Inn, a men’s homeless shelter in Atlanta, while taking photos and signing autographs.

Josh Jones
Green Bay Packers
The rookie teamed up with Freedom House to hand deliver Thanksgiving meals to five families in need in Green Bay.

Matthew Judon
Baltimore Ravens
Offensive lineman gave out 100 turkeys and sides on Nov. 21 to members of the Baltimore community to celebrate the holiday.

Cre’Von LeBlanc
Chicago Bears
The cornerback partnered with the Salvation Army in Florida to provide dinners to the homeless and those in need on Nov. 22. The Cre’Von LeBlanc Foundation also partnered with Gordon Foods to donate turkeys to his church.

Anthony Levine Sr.
Baltimore Ravens
Linked up with United Way and community partners to help feed 100 families for Thanksgiving. The Ravens veteran passed out turkeys and boxes filled with mashed potatoes, collard greens, corn muffin mix, pumpkin pie, stuffing and green beans at a local school in a neighborhood historically below the poverty line. Levine also brought along a football player from a local high school team he has adopted to mentor.

Bennie Logan
Kansas City Chiefs
Sponsored a ham and turkey giveaway on Nov. 23 for approximately 30 families in Louisiana.

Tyrann Mathieu
Arizona Cardinals
Teamed up with United Food Bank to provide 200 turkeys and Thanksgiving meals to families in East Mesa. Mathieu and several teammates went to Stevenson Elementary on Nov. 14 to personally distribute the turkeys to each family.

Whitney Mercilus
Houston Texans
Served Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 22 to children and families at Texas Children’s Hospital using food donated by Chris Shephard.

Cam Meredith
Chicago Bears
Served Thanksgiving dinner at Mercy Home for Boys & Girls on Nov. 21.

Cam Newton
Carolina Panthers
Held his fifth annual Thanksgiving Jam on Nov. 21 at TopGolf Charlotte to serve a hot Thanksgiving meal for more than 800 area children.

Alec Ogletree
Los Angeles Rams
Distributed 1,000 turkeys and sides to his hometown of Newnan, Ga. at his high school alma mater.

Marcus Peters
Kansas City Chiefs
Distributed 250 turkeys plus sides to those in need in both Kansas City and Oakland through his Fam 1st Family Foundation. Peters worked with teammates Eric Berry and Spencer Ware along with foundation co-founders and fellow Oakland natives Marshawn Lynch (Oakland Raiders) and Josh Johnson (Houston Texans).

C.J. Prosise
Seattle Seahawks
The second-year running back hosted the BeProsise Thanksgiving Takeover powered by Premera on Nov. 15 at the Southwest Boys & Girls Club in Seattle. Over 300 local youth took part in a complimentary Thanksgiving meal, meet and greet with Prosise, photo booth and a raffle giveaway.

Jalen Ramsey
Jacksonville Jaguars
Donated and distributed meals to 20 local families during a meet-and-greet at the Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Florida.

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
New York Giants
Hosting a pre-holiday dinner for students at P.S. 15 on Nov. 27 as he kicks off the fourth year of his Dreambuilders “food for kids” initiative. There, more than 250 kids will be provided with backpacks of food every weekend during the 2017-18 school years through Blessings in a Backpack.

Sam Rogers
Los Angeles Rams
The rookie and his wife attended a Salvation Army Thanksgiving meal or the homeless on Nov. 21 in Bellflower, Calif.

Curtis Samuel
Carolina Panthers
The rookie wide receiver passed out turkeys to over 75 children at a local Boys & Girls Club on Nov. 14.

Jabaal Sheard
Indianapolis Colts
Delivered Thanksgiving meals to families from the local Keenan-Stahl Boys & Girls Club with help from several teammates and Nameless Catering.

Buster Skrine
New York Jets
His SkrineWay Foundation donated to multiple Boys & Girls Clubs around the tri-state area, including 250 turkeys and 200 pounds of vegetables in New York on Nov. 21 and a 300-person feast along with Eat Clean Bro in Newark the next day.

Julian Stanford
New York Jets
The linebacker returned to his hometown of Bloomfield, CT and donated 150 turkeys to the local Foodshare before distributing the donation to local senior citizens at the Bloomfield Social and Youth Services Center.

Kenny Stills
Miami Dolphins
Delivered Thanksgiving meals to five families while providing memorabilia items and playing catch with the kids alongside his Dolphins teammate Rashawn Scott.

Lardarius Webb
Baltimore Ravens
Hosted his ninth annual Turkey Drive on Nov. 21 as he gave out turkeys and side dishes to local children and their families at the Webster Kendrick Boys & Girls Club in partnership with United Way.

Kayvon Webster
Los Angeles Rams
For the third straight year, Webster’s Gamechanger Foundation gave away 200 turkeys to families in need on Nov. 21 in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Brandon Williams
Baltimore Ravens
Hosted his annual Thanksgiving event for Westport Boys & Girls Club, providing a full meal for 110 individuals, including 50 kids. He also purchased new winter coats and gear for all the kids.

Terrance West
Baltimore Ravens
Distributed 100 Thanksgiving meal packages on Nov. 20 to local children and their families at All Things Beaute Salon alongside his BWI Foundation.

NFLPA Community MVP
We are also proud of our 2017 Community MVPs, who have been superheroes for those in need and demonstrated a continued commitment to charitable outreach during the season.

Week 0: J.J. Watt, Houston Texans
Week 1: Colin Kaepernick
Week 2: Chris Long, Philadelphia Eagles
Week 3: Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles
Week 4: Max Garcia, Denver Broncos
Week 5: Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Green Bay Packers
Week 6: Vic Beasley Jr., Atlanta Falcons
Week 7: Travis Frederick, Dallas Cowboys
Week 8: Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals
Week 9: Carlos Dunlap, Cincinnati Bengals
Week 10: Josh Norman, Washington Redskins