The 2020 NFL season is finally over. Even if your team didn’t make a playoff run, it is important to be grateful that we, as fans, could have a season despite living in the COVID era. For the last two months of the 2020 season, players have teamed up with Athlete’s Corner and Feeding America to donate meals to families in need. 

More Than A Touchdown

On October 29th, 2020, Eagles Tight End, Zach Ertz, announced his foundation, The Zach and Julie Ertz Family Foundation, would partner with Athlete’s Corner, a non-profit dedicated to working with professional athletes and teams to strengthen struggling families mentally, spiritually, and physically through sports. The non-profits are partnering to provide meals for Philadelphia families in need. For the month’s of November and December, for every Eagle’s touchdown scored at home, 2500 meals would be donated and for every home touchdown for Ertz, 5000 meals would be donated.

Adrian Peterson joins the Challenge

 Detroit Lions Running Back, Adrian Peterson, also decided to join in on the fun with Athlete’s Corner. Peterson originally pledged 1000 meals for every Lions touchdown and 2000 meals for every touchdown he scored. Before the Thanksgiving day game against the Texans, Peterson explained why he felt moved to work with Athlete’s Corner in an oped in The Detroit Free Press. 

“My hope today is to bring home a win for the Lions and to bring your family joy on Thanksgiving. But also, to start the conversation around your Thanksgiving table about how we can all better serve our neighbors. When our fellow citizens of Detroit were hungry, what did we do? How did we serve them? How did we inspire others to serve alongside us? So many of us are blessed with so much, but it is our duty to lift up one another. What better time to start than today? Give thanks for the feast you are about to enjoy, but also give thanks that you are in a position to serve others. I’ll be rushing with a little extra #AllDay motivation today. It’s not just about football for me on this Thanksgiving, it’s about the City of Detroit.”

To commemorate the Thanksgiving game,  Peterson wore cleats with the bible verses Mathew 25:35-40   

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me….The King will reply, ”Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Although the Lions didn’t come away with the win, Peterson did finish the game with two touchdowns scored and 4,000 meals donated. 

Check out his second touchdown below.

Together this holiday season Adrian Peterson, Athlete’s Corner and the Ertz Family donated 132,000 meals. 

The Gift That keeps on Giving   

Now the Golden State Warriors have picked up the mantle. For every point scored in the 2020-2021 season, the Warriors will donate 100 meals to their local food banks. So far this season, they have donated 142,000 meals!!

 2020 was a crazy year, and we don’t know what 2021 will bring. However, if this story can tell us anything, it’s that there will always be people willing to step up and lend a helping hand. If you would like to donate to, or learn more about, Athlete’s Corner, The Zach and Julie Ertz family foundation, or The A & A Peterson foundation click on the links.

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