Green Bay, WI (PRWEB) January 24, 2007
Former football excellent Jerry Kramer, a member of Vince Lombardi’s World Champion Green Bay Packers teams, announced right now the launch of the Gridiron Greats Help Fund, the formation of a Board of Directors, and details for a Superstar on the web auction and public donation drive to kick off the week of Super Bowl XLI. The fund has been created to assist retired players in dire require. The public is encouraged to pay a visit to JerryKramer.com to learn much more, make a donation, and preview the really distinctive auction items.
It was announced today that Pro Football Hall of Fame members Mike Ditka, Willie Davis, Gale Sayers, Harry Carson, and Joe DeLamielleure have teamed up to grow to be members of the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund Board of Directors. The fund will supply direct or indirect monetary assistance to retired players who are disadvantaged or indigent due to inadequate pension and disability compensation. The fund will also present services to players who require help with medical or domestic problems.
“I am appreciative to all the players who have graciously agreed to serve on this very critical board. These Gridiron Greats have not only excelled on the field, but also as human beings. It brings me fantastic joy that this assembly believes in this essential effort and the worthiness of our trigger. With out a doubt, their participation will make the distinction,” said Jerry Kramer.
Info regarding the fund, superstar auction, donation drive and other initiatives are accessible at JerryKramer.com. Kramer will also provide total Super Bowl Week coverage, live from Miami, on his web site. Content will include a flashback to Miami 1968, the website of Super Bowl II, which was also Jerry Kramer’s and Vince Lombardi’s historic final Super Bowl appearance. Vince Lombardi’s audio from the Super Bowl II locker room is now obtainable for public listening at JerryKramer.com.
The Gridiron Greats Superstar on-line fundraising auction will also kick off in the course of Super Bowl week along with a public donation program. The objective of the auction and donation drive is to raise cash for immediate disbursement to those players in want. Numerous players who helped create the NFL into what it is right now ravaged their bodies by way of years of on-field abuse, and they are consequently unable to maintain a top quality of life and monetary security for themselves and their families due to physical limitations.
The lack of an adequate pension and retirement program for the older players has left many of these football heroes receiving only $ 100-$ 300 in monthly pensions. As a result, some of the men who have given so significantly to the game can’t even afford to purchase medicine or pay medical expenses for necessary surgeries to remedy football related injuries. Some players have even discovered themselves without having a roof over their head. Other people live in isolation and loneliness, embarrassed by the condition in which they have found themselves in their golden years.
“I am extremely upset for the below poverty level Pension I am receiving, which is an embarrassing $ 126.85 per month. Due to the fact of the way I have been treated, I stopped wearing my Super Bowl ring and Hall of Fame ring. I thank God that I didn’t depend on my NFL pension if I had, I would be homeless and added to the list of my former teammates who Jerry and the others are raising funds for,” said Herb Adderley, former Green Bay Packer and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Despite the fact that a series of events are being planned to raise cash for this worthwhile trigger, the fund’s initial events will be the Superstar on the web auction and donation drive taking location the week of the Super Bowl XLI (2007).
Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund spokesperson Jennifer Smith said that, “over the past several months, Kramer has worked diligently to put together the framework for the fund and the Super Bowl week auction. He has spent hours asking past and present NFL greats to go into their closets, trophy shelves and files to pull out game employed equipment, awards and other mementos to donate, as well as celebrity experiences.”
Some of the featured items that have been donated consist of Mike Ditka’s Chicago Bears NFC Championship ring, celebrity experiences with Howie Lengthy, Merlin Olson, Harry Carson, hand-drawn plays by Vince Lombardi donated by the legendary coach’s son, Eli Manning’s Cleats, a Fearsome Foursome signed print, and significantly a lot more. An auction item preview will be featured on JerryKramer.com beginning Sunday, January 28th. The donation drive begins Monday, January 29th.
Kramer, the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund board members, and many NFL greats are also asking fans to logon to JerryKramer.com and understand about the trigger, make a donation, and bid on auction items. Fans can discover more about the cause by checking frequent content updates from some of the greats affected by this difficulty. Content will be added from the perspective of those players in need, such as Herb Adderley and Willie Wood, and also from that of those involved in helping solve this issue, such as Mike Ditka, Harry Carson, and numerous other people.
The notion to start the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund came following Kramer’s missing Super Bowl I ring materialized in an online auction sale in April 2006. The auction house returned the ring to Kramer as soon as it learned the item was stolen from Kramer 25 years earlier. Following returning the original, it was decided to auction Kramer’s replica ring to raise money for these players. It sold for $ 22,000, almost double the amount professionals predicted. The trigger itself is dear to Kramer, who has witnessed the crippling impact a lack of monetary support has had on former players he knows personally.
“It is incredible how this initiative developed,” said Kramer. “It began out with my frustration in trying to get my Super Bowl ring back, but then it turned into this opportunity to help some of the retired players who helped create the league into what it is today. By beginning this program, we are lending a hand to the guys who require it most.”
Several high profile former NFL stars have committed to being part of the Super Bowl week auction, including Mike Ditka, Merlin Olsen, Gale Sayers, Howie Long, Sam Huff, Willie Davis, Lem Barney, Willie Davis, Don Shula, Archie Manning, Dwight Clark, Jan Stenarud, Mel Renfro, numerous members of the New England Patriots Alumni group, and many a lot more.
“Dozens of former and current players have offered their assist on this project, and we feel their participation is a excellent way to assist those players who produced the game of football what it is right now,” said Kramer.
JerryKramer.com offers fans frequent updates, complete details about the fund, an interactive message board featuring NFL greats who are component of the project, editorials by Kramer and other players, as well as an auction preview gallery, complete Super Bowl week coverage and of course is the portal to the auction.
New York-based Steiner Sports SteinerSports.com will facilitate this auction through JerryKramer.com. They have graciously donated their encounter and expertise to the Super Bowl week auction.
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