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| John Beck |
I interviewed Beck to talk about his foundation, Friends for Football, www.friendsforfootball.org. He is the second Redskin with whom I have had an in depth conversation about their personal charities (Lorenzo Alexander was the first) and it wasn’t just the fact that so many professional players invest a lot of time and effort into giving to others that makes them so special. There is evidence that to even play the game, one has to be pretty amazing.
Beck and I sat outside behind the training facility in Ashburn to talk. Northern Virginia was enjoying one of those rare, beautiful days late in the season and it had to have been 70 degrees outside. Warm weather, bright skies, no humidity... it was nice outside in the sun. The green, empty practice fields were down below us and, in front of us, players came and went because practice was over. Some of the guys were working out in the equipment room with the door propped open, some were talking to each other or on their cell phones. All appeared relaxed.
The quarterback was, of course, happy to talk about his foundation. Friends For Football has existed for a couple of years and was started in Arizona where John grew up. While many of the beneficiaries are from Utah where he went to Brigham Young University (BYU), Beck’s foundation has helped kids from as far away as Hawaii. His organization helps kids aged seven to 14 play football for their local or school leagues by helping them buy things like cleats, pads, membership registrations, uniforms and the like when their parent(s) can’t otherwise afford them. For a family with a couple of boys, those types of things can run into hundreds of dollars for a single season and the funding makes it possible for them to join a football team.
“We have it set up where the first year we did it, we helped out 67 or 68 kids from disadvantaged homes where, like I said, a single mother may be raising two or three boys,” John said. “Sign up fees [for football in schools or leagues] might be $225 and that’s not including anything else that goes along with it like a pad rental fee. They have to buy cleats. The first year we did it, we helped out 67 kids buy cleats as well.
“We have helped out families that had three boys. That’s almost $1,000 and a lot of families just don’t have $1,000 to put towards their kids for football.”
Beck holds an annual golf tournament at Red Ledges Golf Course in Heber, UT as well as a couple of football camps and dinners to raise funds for his foundation. He invites other players to participate and has had players such as former BYU teammates Nate Meikle, Johnny Harline and Cameron Jensen according to The Bleacher Report. Some of his former college teammates now also play for NFL teams and a few who have participated in his tournament or football camps are Brian Kehl and David Nixon (St. Louis Rams), Max Hall (Arizona Cardinals), Austin Collie (Indianapolis Colts), Dennis Pitta (Baltimore Ravens), Naufahu Tahi (Minnesota Vikings), Ty Detmer (former Heisman Trophy winner, last played for the Atlanta Falcons), and Harvey Unga (Chicago Bears). His 503.C organization was blessed enough to have received a grant from the Baltimore Ravens when he played for them and every year he has been able to increase the number of kids to help.
There is a lot to consider when Beck decides to whom help will be given. There have been families that needed something besides money. They might be in a situation where a couple of boys could use a good role model in their lives.
“A lot of the kids we help out come from single parent homes... especially just a single mother raising two or three boys without a father figure,” Beck said. “We believe that that’s important in their lives. Where can they find that father figure? Well, one way is through a coach.”
As John’s foundation has become more well-known, he has had to become more discretionary about whom to give funding.
“The first year it was open on a kind of first-come-first-served basis,” Beck admitted, “but there were so many people. We helped out 70 [families] and we still had to tell 20-30+ people that we were out of funds for the year. So we felt bad because we felt like some of those people that we’d already helped were just in a way like, 'Hey... times are tough. Can you help me out?'"
The QB described how he makes the hard decisions now.
“They submit a paragraph or two about their situation,” he explained. “Either the kid or the parent can contact us.
“We’ve had some fathers [that have written], ‘Hey, I’m a single parent. I have two boys [and] I got into this car accident [that required] leg surgery. I was out of work for so long that when I came back from the injury I was released from work. I've been out of a job rehabbing and I have no way to pay for my kids.’
“So they contact us and what we do is we go directly through their league. They say, ‘I play in this league in this area,’ and we send a check directly to the league for them for their pads and everything. Then they go and weigh in and the only thing we ask is that they send us back a picture with a note about what they’ve learned during the season.”
Beck loves hearing back from the kids and families that Friends For Football has helped.
“It’s been great,” he said. “We’ve had so many kids that write back. One of the best stories we’ve had is a kid that wrote and said, ‘I always wanted to play football but I never knew if I could do it and I never had the chance to because my parents didn’t have the money. I played football this year and I scored my first touchdown. I learned how to tackle.’”
As I spoke with Beck, it was increasingly clear to me that there was something about the game of football that made it more than just a job to him. He played different sports as a youngster and I wondered why he focused solely on the pigskin with his charity. In answering, the BYU grad showed a surprising amount of passion about the game he plays and I began to understand why football was the chosen activity for his foundation. He spoke of the hard work that it takes to be fit enough to play a very tough game. He spoke of the trust players are required to have in each other, the self-esteem that a kid could develop by being trusted by his teammates and the value of every single player on the field doing his job the way it’s supposed to be done.
“When I first learned how to play quarterback,” Beck described enthusiastically, “one of the things I loved most was throwing a pass and getting wacked as I threw it.”
I just about fell off the bench!
‘Huh...?!? This guy loves getting hit???’
I understood however, as he pushed on: “And I just trusted that, where I threw that ball, even though I’m not going to see it because I’ve gotten hit, it’s going to go and the receiver’s going to catch it, I’m going to get up and shake off the hit and go on to the next play. I loved that about the game… I still do.
"A quarterback throws the ball before the receiver gets to the spot… I’m trusting [the receiver] to be where he’s supposed to be to make the play. Now, take a kid from a disadvantaged background. How many people is he going to trust? If he’s gotten into a little bit of trouble, how many people are going to trust him? You’ve got to learn trust in football. You’ve got to learn that when you line up, you’ve got to trust this guy, you’ve got to trust that guy. And he learns that people can trust him and it does great things for his self esteem.
"People have said for years that ‘football is the ultimate team sport’. A basketball player… he can grab a rebound, go down the court, shoot the ball, make it and he can do that by himself. A baseball player? It’s him and the pitcher until the ball is hit... the fielders don’t get involved. It’s a one-on-one duel. You can go through so many sports like that, where it’s all about the one guy. But in football, you cannot - as a quarterback - take the snap and run for a touchdown. There's no way (unless you’re a kid doing a trick play in a Youtube video). And on every play, all 11 people on offense are involved. Ten people can do the thing right but if that one person messes up, that hinders whether for instance, the running back succeeds at his job. If he can’t get that block from that 11th guy, he’s not going to get the most yards that he can. In football, on every play, 11 people have to be involved and do their jobs.”
On the Friends For Football website, it states that the organization was created to give youth from underprivileged circumstances the opportunity to gain valuable lessons that are taught from participating in organized football leagues. It goes on to assert that when a person is committed to a team environment it teaches them about discipline, accountability, and how to strive after your goals.
After speaking with Beck, I have a new and different perspective on the activity he loves so much and the players who are involved with it professionally. The mission of his foundation includes a short narrative on some of what makes football different from any other sport and it touches on why I take my hat off to the professionals in the NFL.
Unlike any other sport, football is the ultimate team sport. Not every player on the field touches the ball. On each play you are dependent on your teammates as they are dependent on you. No sport has more people on the field at once all executing their role for a single play and one purpose.
Beck was as inspired as anyone I’ve ever spoken to about his profession and it made me want to run and put on some pads and a helmet myself. His enthusiasm was contagious. Not only does he love the game itself, he loves the lessons it can teach kids and the character that is required to play the game well.
Here are some of the other things that he said about both his sport and what it can do for the kids he helps.
Some would say, “Yea, well… for that kind of money, I will let someone get violent with me, too.” But one cannot ignore what these professional football players went through to get to the National Football League. They did not just wake up one day and say to themselves, “Hmmm… I don’t mind getting hit… I think I’ll be a professional football player!”
They, for the most part, spent years and years honing their skills. Many began playing in a Pop Warner “TINY-MITE” league at five-years-old. Think about it: a 25-year-old running back – one of the most battered players in the game – might have been playing football for twenty years by the time he is in his prime in the NFL. It’s no wonder that running backs have a 4.5-year productive life span in the league.
Beck went on an overseas mission to Lisbon, Portugal just after high school. He spent two years in abject poverty, giving to others without the basic comforts that most of us here in the United States enjoy. Things like restrooms, actual flooring (most structures had dirt floors), clean water and medicine were either hard to find or non-existent. During those two years, he had one day per week to do things for himself like laundry, exercise, housecleaning, shopping, etc. When he returned to the States, not only did he have a new-found appreciation for carpet, he realized how difficult it was going to be to get back into the physical shape required to play football again. Getting back into football shape after those two years was one of the most difficult things he has ever done.
We know that these days there is not much of an off-season for many athletes, both at the college and the professional level. Constant physical fitness training is necessary in order to stay strong and be competitive. Many NFL players have been working out hard year-round since high school.
I understood however, as he pushed on: “And I just trusted that, where I threw that ball, even though I’m not going to see it because I’ve gotten hit, it’s going to go and the receiver’s going to catch it, I’m going to get up and shake off the hit and go on to the next play. I loved that about the game… I still do.
"A quarterback throws the ball before the receiver gets to the spot… I’m trusting [the receiver] to be where he’s supposed to be to make the play. Now, take a kid from a disadvantaged background. How many people is he going to trust? If he’s gotten into a little bit of trouble, how many people are going to trust him? You’ve got to learn trust in football. You’ve got to learn that when you line up, you’ve got to trust this guy, you’ve got to trust that guy. And he learns that people can trust him and it does great things for his self esteem.
"People have said for years that ‘football is the ultimate team sport’. A basketball player… he can grab a rebound, go down the court, shoot the ball, make it and he can do that by himself. A baseball player? It’s him and the pitcher until the ball is hit... the fielders don’t get involved. It’s a one-on-one duel. You can go through so many sports like that, where it’s all about the one guy. But in football, you cannot - as a quarterback - take the snap and run for a touchdown. There's no way (unless you’re a kid doing a trick play in a Youtube video). And on every play, all 11 people on offense are involved. Ten people can do the thing right but if that one person messes up, that hinders whether for instance, the running back succeeds at his job. If he can’t get that block from that 11th guy, he’s not going to get the most yards that he can. In football, on every play, 11 people have to be involved and do their jobs.”
On the Friends For Football website, it states that the organization was created to give youth from underprivileged circumstances the opportunity to gain valuable lessons that are taught from participating in organized football leagues. It goes on to assert that when a person is committed to a team environment it teaches them about discipline, accountability, and how to strive after your goals.
After speaking with Beck, I have a new and different perspective on the activity he loves so much and the players who are involved with it professionally. The mission of his foundation includes a short narrative on some of what makes football different from any other sport and it touches on why I take my hat off to the professionals in the NFL.
Unlike any other sport, football is the ultimate team sport. Not every player on the field touches the ball. On each play you are dependent on your teammates as they are dependent on you. No sport has more people on the field at once all executing their role for a single play and one purpose.
Beck was as inspired as anyone I’ve ever spoken to about his profession and it made me want to run and put on some pads and a helmet myself. His enthusiasm was contagious. Not only does he love the game itself, he loves the lessons it can teach kids and the character that is required to play the game well.
Here are some of the other things that he said about both his sport and what it can do for the kids he helps.
- “During the week, their buddies may be going to go ride bikes or whatever… well, two or three times a week they’ve got to sacrifice that time to put it into football and try to get better.”
- “Another thing about the game of football is you’re going to get knocked down and you’ve got to learn to get back up.”
- “Another cool thing is that many kids get to see encouragement from their parents. I mean, kids are smart. They know, ‘my family doesn’t have a lot’. They see the situations around them. Maybe they see Billy’s parents giving him everything that his parents can’t. Well, the great thing is that when they’re out there playing football, their parents are on the sideline supporting him.”
- “It’s not about, ‘Hey, this kid is missing out on football and he might be a football star someday down the road’. No… that is not it. The majority of the kids that we help play football are not going to play football past junior high – high school maybe. But the thing is what it’s going to teach them. It’s going to teach them principles; it’s going to teach them to have that character that they need to be successful in whatever field they choose.”
- “I also want to teach them what to do so they can accomplish their goals even if the road becomes bumpy so they can succeed. Instead, of saying ‘I don’t know what to do. I’ve never been knocked down before,’ - and turning to drugs, crime, stuff like that - they think, ‘I’m trying to make this path happen. This is how I’ve got to do it.’”
- “In order for a majority of us to get here, we have to take a path of a lot of determination and no path is ever that easy. So all of us have had to go through things to get here and you want to do something for the kids – you want to alleviate [some of the obstacles they might encounter on] their path.”
Some would say, “Yea, well… for that kind of money, I will let someone get violent with me, too.” But one cannot ignore what these professional football players went through to get to the National Football League. They did not just wake up one day and say to themselves, “Hmmm… I don’t mind getting hit… I think I’ll be a professional football player!”
They, for the most part, spent years and years honing their skills. Many began playing in a Pop Warner “TINY-MITE” league at five-years-old. Think about it: a 25-year-old running back – one of the most battered players in the game – might have been playing football for twenty years by the time he is in his prime in the NFL. It’s no wonder that running backs have a 4.5-year productive life span in the league.
Beck went on an overseas mission to Lisbon, Portugal just after high school. He spent two years in abject poverty, giving to others without the basic comforts that most of us here in the United States enjoy. Things like restrooms, actual flooring (most structures had dirt floors), clean water and medicine were either hard to find or non-existent. During those two years, he had one day per week to do things for himself like laundry, exercise, housecleaning, shopping, etc. When he returned to the States, not only did he have a new-found appreciation for carpet, he realized how difficult it was going to be to get back into the physical shape required to play football again. Getting back into football shape after those two years was one of the most difficult things he has ever done.
We know that these days there is not much of an off-season for many athletes, both at the college and the professional level. Constant physical fitness training is necessary in order to stay strong and be competitive. Many NFL players have been working out hard year-round since high school.
Additionally, most schools require a minimum GPA in order for the players to remain on the active roster. While there is evidence that exceptions have (perhaps underhandedly) been made for a select few over the years, the majority must study in the little free time they have at the higher college levels to maintain that GPA. This continues on the professional level as they learn and evolve with their NFL play books.
Football players' injuries must be rehabbed at an extraordinary pace – much more quickly than a typical person's and there is some pressure to 'play hurt.' The sacrifice they make with their bodies is extraordinary, hence the pressure for strength and being in “football shape.” I have always respected players who have won the Ed Block Courage Award for whatever reason. Some of the physical rehabilitation that they have accomplished after serious injuries to then come back and play the game is amazing. Redskins nose tackle Ma'ake Kemoeatu was the most recent Washington winner.
Considering how hard Beck had to work to get back into shape after his mission makes his accomplishments in college even more amazing. He attended BYU from 2003 through 2006 and in his first year, he played in eight games with four starts, becoming only the second true freshman to start a game at quarterback (Factoid: Marc Wilson was the first in 1977 – he later led the Oakland Raiders to victory in Superbowl XVIII in 1984).
While at BYU, Beck was a four-year letterman and started at quarterback his final three seasons. During his senior year he was All-American (2nd team) for Sporting News, All-American for Sports Illustrated and Mountain West Conference (MWC) Offensive Player of the Year after putting together six 300-yard passing games. Beck was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, a Davey O’Brien Award semi-finalist, a Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week and 2nd in NCAA passing efficiency (169.05).
On the BYU website, a short narrative about the 2006 BYU vs. University of Utah football game (this is a huge rivalry and is dubbed “The Holy War”) states:
2006 may have been one of the greatest games in the history of the rivalry. With the lead switching hands several times in the final minutes, BYU drove 75 yards in 10 plays in the last 1:19 to win the game, responding to a nine-play, 83-yard Utah drive. All-American John Beck connected with wide open tight end Jonny Harline in the end zone on the game’s final play in what has been deemed "the 13-second miracle” for Cougar fans. The 33-31 victory sealed a perfect league record for BYU and their first victory over Utah since 2001.
Even though I’ve decided football players are extraordinary and deserve more respect than they get from people who don’t understand or love the game, they do have their “moments.” I came across this video on YouTube of Beck at one of his football camps. He is, of course, great with the kids and is shown teaching them different fundamentals of quarterbacking. However, watch and see if he is really doing all of the right things all of the time! (It starts with a short clip of Beck quarterbacking a game... keep watching...)
John Beck came to the Washington Redskins from the Baltimore Ravens in a trade for cornerback Doug Dutch on Aug. 2, 2010. He was a second-round draft pick (40th overall) to the Miami Dolphins in the 2007 NFL Draft and stayed in Miami until he went the Ravens in 2009.
Beck played in three pre-season games against the Buffalo Bills, the New York Jets and the Arizona Cardinals last season for the Redskins. He completed 20 of 39 passes for 235 yards (51.3%) and one interception..
Football players' injuries must be rehabbed at an extraordinary pace – much more quickly than a typical person's and there is some pressure to 'play hurt.' The sacrifice they make with their bodies is extraordinary, hence the pressure for strength and being in “football shape.” I have always respected players who have won the Ed Block Courage Award for whatever reason. Some of the physical rehabilitation that they have accomplished after serious injuries to then come back and play the game is amazing. Redskins nose tackle Ma'ake Kemoeatu was the most recent Washington winner.
Considering how hard Beck had to work to get back into shape after his mission makes his accomplishments in college even more amazing. He attended BYU from 2003 through 2006 and in his first year, he played in eight games with four starts, becoming only the second true freshman to start a game at quarterback (Factoid: Marc Wilson was the first in 1977 – he later led the Oakland Raiders to victory in Superbowl XVIII in 1984).
While at BYU, Beck was a four-year letterman and started at quarterback his final three seasons. During his senior year he was All-American (2nd team) for Sporting News, All-American for Sports Illustrated and Mountain West Conference (MWC) Offensive Player of the Year after putting together six 300-yard passing games. Beck was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, a Davey O’Brien Award semi-finalist, a Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week and 2nd in NCAA passing efficiency (169.05).
The former Cougar started 12 games as a senior, leading BYU to a record of 11-2 and the MWC crown. He completed 289 passes out of of 417 pass attempts (69.3%) for 3,885 yards with 32 touchdowns and just 8 interceptions.
On the BYU website, a short narrative about the 2006 BYU vs. University of Utah football game (this is a huge rivalry and is dubbed “The Holy War”) states:
2006 may have been one of the greatest games in the history of the rivalry. With the lead switching hands several times in the final minutes, BYU drove 75 yards in 10 plays in the last 1:19 to win the game, responding to a nine-play, 83-yard Utah drive. All-American John Beck connected with wide open tight end Jonny Harline in the end zone on the game’s final play in what has been deemed "the 13-second miracle” for Cougar fans. The 33-31 victory sealed a perfect league record for BYU and their first victory over Utah since 2001.
Even though I’ve decided football players are extraordinary and deserve more respect than they get from people who don’t understand or love the game, they do have their “moments.” I came across this video on YouTube of Beck at one of his football camps. He is, of course, great with the kids and is shown teaching them different fundamentals of quarterbacking. However, watch and see if he is really doing all of the right things all of the time! (It starts with a short clip of Beck quarterbacking a game... keep watching...)
Beck played in three pre-season games against the Buffalo Bills, the New York Jets and the Arizona Cardinals last season for the Redskins. He completed 20 of 39 passes for 235 yards (51.3%) and one interception..
I don’t mean to paint a picture of professional football players as of a bunch of saints playing on any given football team. There are certainly many other highly regarded professions which require greater sacrifice. The point is that because of the huge amounts of money, celebrity status and entitlement that come with the profession, many people forget about the sacrifices that these men made and continue to make to get to and remain in the National Football League.
A large majority of NFL players use the fruits of their labors to help other people. Many of these guys have families, go to church, have their own charities and spend money and time giving to their teammate’s or team’s charities. Their hard work over the years and the giving back that they do cannot and should not be ignored. In fact, it should be celebrated.
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