Jesse Freeman, community outreach associate with the Patriots speaks about athletes and their service to the community.
Players serve community through non profit organizations. Service is important to the players because they truly enjoy helping the community, and it enhances their appearance as a role model. We discovered that many players take initiative in the community, they approach community outreach leaders about how they can help the Boston and New England areas. Ms. Freeman says that every player is an extremely good leader, from the starting line up to the second and third strings. Most of the players see the importance of service and go out of their way to participate in the Patriots foundation. The foundation was the first initiative after the Kraft's bought the team. Currently the Patriots have the second most endowed foundation in the National Football League. This endowment allows the players to participate in many events in throughout New England.
Although most players enjoy service and participate willingly, there are mandatory events that players must attend. In every contract there is a mandatory number of events that a player must attend. The Foundation Fund Raisers are the only events that players must attend. Every rookie that joins the New England Patriots must participate in a Rookie Training Program which teaches them how to conduct themselves under their new stardom. They learn how to deal with press, how to stay out trouble, and how they can effect the community around them.
The players participate in a large number of different services. The Patriots franchise feels that their service in the community benefits both themselves and the community. The players work to help better the community, while the community turns those players into local heroes. Ms. Freeman said, "doors are open to allow the community to reach out to us just as we reach out to the community." The Patriots are involved in a variety of different non profit organizations, from building college scholarships, to the kids café services. The players from truly want to make a difference in this community. Their image is secondary to their will to aid people in need.
Here are some of the Questions we had about the Patriots Foundation and the players services:
What the majority of players that participate in optional service?
Some players enjoy service rather than others, some have their own foundations. Many of the players don't always feel comfortable doing service. Usually the players will come when they are available and also able to come. It's also a good opportunity for the player who is not a starter, to get his name out and known through community service.
What kind of service does a player like Randy Moss participate in? Does he think that serving has changed him for the better?
Randy Moss does not like the events or the dressing up for them, although he has shown an interest in the foundation "Make A Wish" and he gets very involved with it.
What does "damage control" consist of and are players given community service as a punishment?
Damage control comes directly from public relations and is taken very seriously. Players are not invincible and will have consequences for their actions.
How does service effect Boston's sport culture?
Service is a big positive for Boston's sports culture. Fortunately the Patriots are well endowed, so it helps them do more throughout and community and foundations.
Do players partake in individual service?
Some players have their own foundations, that the Patriots support, but do not endorse.
Is there a minimum of service that players must participate in?
The players must make a certain number of appearances as stated in their contracts.
The players must make a certain number of appearances as stated in their contracts.
Leanne and Vanessa
5 comments:
Going to the Patriots was a good learning experience. The Patriots seemed more involved in the media attention that they got rather than actually caring about what they were doing and who they were doing it for. They were way more into themselves than the Bruins were. The Bruins almost all of them do way more service than the bare minimum whereas the Patriots seemed to only do what was required of them in their contracts. The Bruins were definately more involved in the community than the Patriots.
After speaking with Ms. Freeman, I have gained a lot more knowledge regarding professional players and their community service commitments. I feel that the Patriots and the community service they do reflect more than one of our perspectives. In my opinion, for the most part the Patriots are good people and do care about giving back to their communities. One example of this is Matt Light, an offensive lineman for the New England Patriots. He created his own foundation and runs camps for children on top of foundations and fundraisers made mandatory by the Patriots. Players do genuinely care about their community and help in any way they can. I also feel as though franchises do have outreach programs and maintain healthy relationships with charities to help create a good name for their players and organization rather than to compensate for poor behavior. The Patriots simply want to enforce the idea that the players truly are good people and that the Patriots brand has a lot of integrity.
ERIC
When we were talking with Ms. Freeman from the New England Patriots community outreach program, we gained a lot of helpful information. Before the meeting, we were all aware of the different perspectives about athletes and their relationship with the community. Ms Freeman did a very good job showing us that not all of the players are the same. Some chose to attend all of the charities that they can, while others only attend the ones they have to. She also talked about how even though some players won’t attend the dinners and galas (like Randy Moss), they will be more than happy to do camps or talks with inner-city kids. Others will go out of their way and change their schedules around just so they can attend the charitable events. The Patriots have definitely found a way to get their players involved in the community and it has without a question bettered their image as a team.
TYLER HILL
During the meeting with Jessica Freeman, she has explained to us how involved the patriot players were into the charitable patriots foundation. Most players volunteered and were extremely engaged into attending these events. We learned that many players didnt feel comfortable in some of these events so the foundation found ways to place players where they were most effective. Once they attended these events the it was clear that the most players were able to show their real personalities by working with the community. Usually the shy and quiet players show what kind of character they had. Jessica also stressed that the foundation is not also to make the patriots organization to look good but also the players. This fact showed that foundation has its negative clause of just wanting to look good more than helping out the community.
My experience during JUA was amazing. We met with a woman who works for the New England Patriots, she was very nice and answered all of our questions. After hearing her thoughts and experience with community service with the pro football players of the new england patriots. I believe that pro football players are role models for young kids and they also care about the community. the patriots enjoy raising money for the ones in need. this experience opened up my eyes, and made me realize that athletes do a lot more than just play a sport.
JASON
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