In addition to being an elite quarterback in the NFL, Aaron Rodgers is a leader in his community. He is a finalist for the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
The winner will be announced in Arizona, the site of Super Bowl XLIX, during the fourth annual NFL Honors, a two-hour primetime awards special to air nationally on Saturday, January 31, from 9-11 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
The winner will receive a $25,000 donation in his name to a charity of his choice from both the NFL Foundation and Nationwide ($50,000 total). The two additional finalists will receive $5,000 donations in their names.
The NFL’s all-time leader in career passer rating (106.0), Rodgers led the Packers to their franchise-record fourth consecutive NFC North title and their team-record-tying sixth straight playoff appearance. He ranked No. 1 in the NFL this season in TD/INT ratio (7.60, 38/5), No. 2 in passer rating (112.2) and yards per attempt (8.43), and No. 3 in TD passes (38), the only quarterback in the league to finish in the top three in all four of those categories. Rodgers posted eight games with three-plus TDs/zero INTs, tying Patriots QB Tom Brady (2007) for the most in a season in NFL history.
Rodgers has committed his time and passion to numerous charitable organizations, including several causes that directly impact the life of children such as the MACC Fund (Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer), www.itsaaron.com and Make-A-Wish. Through his work with the MACC Fund, he has helped raise awareness and support for children with cancer and blood disorders. He recently eclipsed the $1.5 million mark in total monies raised through his own personal efforts, campaigns and events.
Rodgers co-created www.itsaaron.com to help raise awareness and build support for organizations and individuals making a difference in their communities, including those that help children with cancer and those who have faced physical disabilities or poverty.
“I have always felt that it is a responsibility to use your platform to make a difference in people’s lives, and as professional athletes we have the opportunity to have a very wide reach in making an impact with the platform we have been given,” Rodgers said. “I have been fortunate enough to work with some amazing organizations that are doing some incredible work. I realize that my involvement can give those organizations a little help, but the work that they do stands alone, and I am just happy to stand next to them.”
How has your nominee put the needs of members in the community ahead of their own?
Aaron has demonstrated that giving back to the community is important to him by dedicating his personal time to getting involved with various charities, from visible, well-known non-profits like The Salvation Army to ones that do not get the recognition they deserve, such as Raise Hope for Congo and the G9 Childhood Cancer Project. Aaron believes that it is his responsibility to use his position and resources as a professional athlete to bring attention to organizations that can spark change.
What is your nominee’s next initiative?
Aaron plans to continue growing itsaaron.com, which was created to help raise awareness for the people and organizations that are having an enormous impact on the world, but could use some help sharing their stories. He is currently working on the third season of the itsaaron.com videos aimed to build support for the community organizations he wants to make more visible, such as those that help children with cancer and those who have faced physical disabilities or poverty.
When did your nominee start supporting this cause?
Aaron became interested in helping sick children as a teenager, when he met and became friends with a young man who had been diagnosed with leukemia. This experience shaped the way Aaron saw his football career because he began seeing football as a platform he could use to raise awareness for childhood cancer and build support for the nonprofit organizations that fight the illnesses that afflict many young people.
Examples of Rodgers’ Contributions to Community
Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers Wins Bart Starr Award by Pro Player Insiders staff (January 2014):
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was selected by his National Football League peers to receive one of the sport’s most meaningful honors – the Bart Starr Award – given annually to a player who represents exemplary character and leadership on and off the field.
Following in the footsteps of previous award winners– who include Jason Witten, London Fletcher, Drew Brees, Kurt Warner, LaDainian Tomlinson, Reggie White and Mike Singletary – Rodgers will receive the award in person from Bart Starr at one of the NFL’s premier events, the Athletes in Action Super Bowl Breakfast.
In his nine years in the NFL, Rodgers has advocated for numerous charitable efforts including Raise Hope for Congo and the Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer (MACC) fund. He created a website, www.itsaaron.com to build awareness for organizations and people who are making a difference in their communities. The quarterback has also been involved with Young Life and Make-A-Wish®.
13 yr old Kelly was always singing around the house so it made sense to her when Independence First, a group which works with kids with disabilities told her they wanted her to lend her voice to a commercial they were producing. Independence First is a non-profit organization that is run by and for the benefit of people who have disabilities, primarily serving the four county metropolitan Milwaukee area. They offer a wide variety of services, resources and information for people who have disabilities as well as their families and communities.
Independence first was chosen by a local law firm, Gruber Law Offices to meet Aaron Rodgers and participate in the #itsAaron program. The itsAaron.com program was created by Aaron Rodgers and David Gruber to create awareness for organizations and people who make a difference in the world through the work of non-profit organizations in Wisconsin.
And who better to represent Independence First, than Kelly. She is a performer, she loves music and she loves the Green Bay Packers.
Kelly has Spina Bifida, a birth defect which occurs when the bones of the spine (vertebrae) do not form properly around part of the baby’s spinal cord. It can affect how the skin on the back looks. In some cases, it can make walking or daily activities hard to do without help. The disease can be mild or severe and effects each person in varying degrees.
While she was at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin preparing for the group’s commercial, she unexpectedly got to meet a hero of hers.
Kelly talked with Rodgers about how her disability doesn’t limit her and what Independence First has done to help her by participating in activities she would otherwise not be able to do like tennis, water-skiing, and skiing.
Of her disability Kelly says,“It doesn’t really get in my way, I just do what I have to do”
Together, in the video, Rodgers and Kelly write and perform an original piece they create together by listening to music with their eyes closed and talking about what the melody made them think of.
Rodgers tells a blushing and giggly Kelly that she is very talented, and she is.
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