OKLAHOMA CITY, OK–While National Football League owners shut players out of training camps this spring, that doesn’t mean the professional gridders have been idle. Last month, a group of them spent a week in Rwanda and Uganda helping provide hearing aids to children in need. Their humanitarian trip was a project of Pros for Africa (PFA), a non-profit relief organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, with funding from the Whitten Newman Foundation. Partnering in the hearing help trip was the Starkey Hearing Foundation.
The participants, several of them All-Pro players, included two of PFA’s co-founders: Adrian Peterson, the star running back of the Minnesota Vikings, and Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris.
Also on the humanitarian mission were Vernon Davis, an outstanding tight end with the San Francisco 49ers, and his brother Vontae, a Miami Dolphins cornerback.
The other players who went to Africa were New York Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes, Tennessee Titans defensive end Derrick Morgan, Tampa Bay Buccaneer defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, and Bryant McKinnie, an offensive tackle with the Vikings.
