Packers players spread the love during local high school football game
The Green Bay Packers obviously have the weekend off since they play on Monday Night Football, so it was a great opportunity for a few players to help out with the team's Packers vs. Cancer initiative at a local high school. Punter Daniel Whelan, kicker Anders Carlson, and nickel/kick returner Keisean Nixon visited Pulaski High […]
The Green Bay Packers obviously have the weekend off since they play on Monday Night Football, so it was a great opportunity for a few players to help out with the team's Packers vs. Cancer initiative at a local high school.
Punter Daniel Whelan, kicker Anders Carlson, and nickel/kick returner Keisean Nixon visited Pulaski High School as part of the Packers Vs. Cancer initiative. Per the team's website, the players interacted with the crowd and threw "autographed foam footballs into the stands at the end of the first quarter."
The event was presented by Bellin Health, a health care system serving northeastern Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan. This is the seventh year that the Packers and Bellin Health have teamed up for this event.
Packers Vs. Cancer "is aimed at raising awareness of all cancers, increasing cancer screenings and raising funds to battle the disease, and runs throughout the month of October". The event also featured a raffle in which the winners won autographed Packers items. T-shirts were also on sale and 100% of all sales profits were donated to the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation.
Nixon's own mother was diagnosed with breast cancer before the start of the 2022 season, so the event had extra meaning for the All-Pro returner.
"About a year ago, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer," Nixon said at the 2023 Packers Vs. Cancer kickoff. "It was kind of tough for me, just being so far from home and understanding the situation of what the process is to actually go through cancer and the steps it takes. I really got a better understanding of what a normal person that deals through cancer on a daily basis goes through and the obstacles they have to reach just to be happy everyday…
"… I witnessed my mom go through most stages of cancer, like chemo. She lost all her hair and I remember her FaceTiming me asking me how it looked and I told her she looked beautiful. Just to see a smile on my mom's face was everything for me. I didn't cry during the FaceTime, but when I got off the phone I cried. And I just had to sit there and think like, life is life and you can't really think of life in a negative aspect. All you can do is think of good and everything that comes with it."
Packers Vs. Cancer will take place throughout the month of October.
Per Packers.com, "Packers Vs. Cancer also features a variety of fundraising opportunities for shoppers at the Packers Pro Shop. Fans can purchase a new Packers Vs. Cancer hat, with $5 from each hat sale going directly to the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation. The green New Era winter knit hat features the Packers logo on the front and the Packers Vs. Cancer logo on the side. Shoppers can also help raise funds for the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation by adding a $1 or more donation to any purchase, starting now through October 16. Those who donate will help contribute to the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation's ongoing cancer research programs."
