The Buffalo Bills released punter Brian Moorman today and re-signed rookie free agent Shawn Powell, who had been in camp to compete with Moorman. The Bills lose the longest tenured player on their team, and a huge force in the Buffalo community.
Moorman founded his PUNT Foundation to provide programs for children and families affected by cancer. Buffalo acquired the two-time Pro Bowl punter in 2001 as a free agent and during his tenure, he was one of the most recognized faces of the franchise.
Just three years after being introduced to the area, Brian and his wife Amber discovered that there was a huge need that was not being met in Buffalo and the surrounding communities. Through interacting with fans and volunteering in the community, Brian and Amber discovered that there were many children in the Buffalo area facing life threatening illnesses and not enough programs in place to help support them and their families. So, in 2004 the couple decided to start the PUNT Foundation. Brian’s PUNT Foundation has been providing assistance over the past eight years to help children fighting cancer to make new, happy memories with their families.
There are five major programs that the PUNT Foundation has put in place, including Brian’s Locker, Brian’s Game Day, Field of Dreams, Helping Hands, and Adopt a Family.
As part of the Brian’s Locker program, the PUNT Foundation puts together care packages for children who are hospitalized to make their stay more comfortable. These care packages include gift cards for groceries, gas, New Era Caps, and phone services. They also come with games, books, Moorman signed hats, mini footballs, water bottles, bars of soap, toothbrushes, hand sanitizer, and lotion.
Brian’s Game Day allows children suffering from childhood cancer and their families to attend Buffalo Bills home games in a private suite. Being in a private suite provides them with a safe environment because the medication the children are on compromises their immune systems.
The Field of Dreams program gives children and their families the opportunity to go on a deluxe vacation experience to forget about the suffering and make great memories together. The PUNT Foundation provides them with transportation, resort accommodations, attraction tickets, and meals for a weeklong family vacation.
The PUNT Foundation’s Helping Hands program provides financial support for daily expenses and medical costs not covered by insurance for children with childhood cancer. A lot of parents with children suffering from cancer often have a hard time affording daily living expenses and medical emergencies. The PUNT Foundation is there to help them in times of need.
Finally, the Adopt a Family program began to help families celebrate Christmas together. The PUNT Foundation gives gift cards to the parents of children with cancer to help them to buy gifts, food, and decorations so they can celebrate Christmas as a family.
The Brian Moorman PUNT Foundation also puts on several fundraising events, the Celebrity Wine Pairing being the most popular one. They put on these events so they can keep their amazing programs in place and continue to help the children in Buffalo suffering from cancer and their families.
Brian Moorman certainly has made an impact on the Buffalo community and is an inspiring figure to many. His life off the field truly revolves around helping to make the lives of children suffering from cancer in the Buffalo area better and more fulfilling. This is why Pro Player Insiders decided to ask him a few questions about his PUNT Foundation. Moorman truly gives back to the community, and while he is no longer a member of the Bills team, the good work he’s done in the community will live on.
Pro Player Insiders (PPI): So tell us about your PUNT Foundation and why you and your wife Amber decided to begin it?
Brian Moorman: When I got to Buffalo I wanted to be very involved in the community and I met a young man named Taylor Speth that was going through treatment at the time for childhood cancer. We really hit it off and he inspired us to start visiting more and more families and kids and got to know more and more families. We found a need that we felt like wasn’t being fulfilled at that time, so we started our own foundation and put our programs in place and started raising money. We decided that was the niche we wanted to be in and help try to make a difference in the lives of children facing childhood cancer and their families and helping them out.
PPI: We are aware the PUNT Foundation puts on an annual Celebrity Wine Pairing event each year. Can you explain to us what this fundraising event is like?
Brian Moorman: It is a five-course dinner and we pair wine with each course. A lot of my teammates come out and some of my teammates have even performed on stage with their musical talents that they have. Bryan Scott, Danny Batten, Arthur Moats, and one of our former coaches got on stage last year. It’s a lot of fun that people enjoy. We have silent and live auctions. It’s probably, I like to say, one of the best fundraiser in Buffalo. You won’t find more Buffalo Bills players at any other event.
PPI: How would you say creating the PUNT Foundation has changed you and your wife’s lives?
Brian Moorman: You know, I’m a firm believer in giving back and I can’t tell you how much these kids have given back to us. I don’t know how many times I have said that leaving that hospital, it’s those kids lifting my spirits not me lifting theirs. It never fails that they are the ones with the smile on their face and they are the ones that are staying positive through everything. We are just happy to be a small part of trying to help out and trying to bring that smile to their face. Like I said, they inspire us and they really have changed us.
For more information, visit the Brian Moorman’s PUNT Foundation website at www.brianmoorman.org.
