Football players do more than just lift their teammates – they lift their communities, too, especially during times of strife and challenge.
During 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence used his platform as a professional NFL player to assist essential workers in their businesses and in the community.
Since then, Lawrence streamlined his efforts to focus more on the youth of Collin County, which is located in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area of Texas.
“Now I can give my heart back to the kids,” said Lawrence in an interview with NBC LX. “I just want to be able to spread love and leadership throughout the community and not just through the football team.”
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One of the many feats Lawrence has accomplished in the community is setting up events to show the kids of the county some fun. He and his friends teamed up with the Boys & Girls Club of Collin County in hosting a night of bowling and gift giveaways as well as school essentials.
Why? Because Lawrence feels that he has gained a deeper understanding about the trials and tribulations of life. He intends to pass that wisdom on by paying it forward.
“They don’t understand a lot about life. Us as adults, we understand, but we don’t make our minds up about a lot of things,” he said. “Just being able to embark on the kids and show them there is a way and there are guys out here who truly care how you lead your life.
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“I just want to make sure I give them the attention they need so they don’t look around and say ‘nobody cares’,” Lawrence added.
A plethora of professional athletes, especially NFL players, are aware of the need for a positive impact in their communities. These players, who sometimes have gone through rough beginnings themselves, extend what they have experienced to the youth who they feel might also have the same big dreams. This way, they can help the kids get to those dreams in a more seamless manner.
The 30-year-old South Carolina native has made it his mission to do exactly that, and influence other players in the industry to do the same.
“We need more men to step up and we need more men to lead by example, to be mentors to some of these younger kids who don’t have mentors in their life,” Lawrence said.
And the reason Lawrence is so insistent on the need for mentorship programs to instill leadership in kids is because he received the same type of help as a young boy. Lawrence is grateful for the role models he himself had on and off the field, and there is no doubt they made him the man he is today.
“First I gotta thank my parents for instilling that commitment and hard work into me,” said the defensive end. “Also my high school coaches, junior college coaches and I had a great coach by the name of Coach Marenelli – he always instilled in us that we are leaders and we have to use our platform and our voice to go out and show what type of leaders we are.”
Lawrence began his football career at Butler Community College, then transferred to Boise State University before the 2012 season. Here he achieved First-team All-MWC in 2012 and 2013 and was later drafted by the Cowboys in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He has been an integral component of Dallas’ defense ever since.
Watch Lawrence and the Cowboys take on the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Dec. 4 for a Sunday Night Football showdown.
Sunday Night Football - primetime TV’s #1 show for an unprecedented 11 consecutive years – kicks off each week during the NFL season at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
