Celebrity Golf Classic!

Sizzling Celebrity Golf Classic Swings into Action


BALTIMORE, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ruth's Chris Steak House Sizzling Celebrity Golf Classic will swing into action at Chestnut Ridge Country Club on September 23. Hosted by Ruth's Chris Steak House and local franchisee Steve de Castro, the annual tournament benefits the Maryland Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org).

Now in its 11th year, the classic has raised $1.9 million to help find a cure for blood-related cancers. Started by de Castro after witnessing the daughter of a friend battle Leukemia, the classic raised a record $327,000 in 2007. The event draws athletes and celebrities, including Mark Clayton, Jonathan Ogden, Cal Ripken, Pat Sajak, and Adelius Thomas.

A series of public promotions are being offered in the weeks leading up to the classic. Promotions include the opportunity to win a limited edition 2008 Lexus GS 450h and to participate in an auction on ESPN 1300-AM for a threesome that will play in the classic with Baltimore Ravens cornerback Chris McAllister, and ESPN radio host Anita Marks.


For more information visit: www.prnewswire.com

USHER at the NFL KICKOFF CONCERT IN NY!

Feature Foundation: TJ DUCKETT's Foundation

Welcome to the TD Foundation

TJ Duckett has established a foundation to positively impact youth and families who have lost loved ones to cancer with providing assistance to those who are currently living with cancer. As a son of a cancer victim, TJ knows first-hand the challenges families face when treatment becomes necessary as employment. The TD Foundation wants to help patients focus on living with cancer instead of dying from it-- to turn cancer patients into cancer survivors.

As a member of the Detroit Lions , all players are encouraged to get involved in charitable organizations and to give back to the community. TJ has taken it one step further by establishing the TD Foundation. For many years TJ has actively supported cancer research and awareness projects but now he wants to personally provide resources and assistance that he feels would have made a significant difference to his family while they were struggling to live with his mother’s illness.


The American Cancer Society estimates in 2007 that there will be over 1.5 million new cases of cancer diagnosed and that 559,650 people are expected to die of cancer, more than 1500 a day. Cancer has a lasting impression on patients, friends and loved ones. Some have just been diagnosed or are going through treatment, while others no longer have active symptoms of cancer or are considered cured. Today, cure rates continue to improve as new medicines and treatments are discovered. Join Team Duckett as we strive to assist organizations in the fight to cure cancer.

Union Plus Provides Support for Education

The NFLPA’s involvement in the Union Plus program provides members with various opportunities available to them and their children, including scholarships.

“Students are eligible for various union-sponsored scholarships,” said NFLPA Union Privilege Liaison Christie Gagnon. “It’s a great way to help make continuing education more affordable.”

For more than a decade, the Union Plus Scholarship Program, offered through the Union Plus Education Foundation, has supported working families pursuing post-secondary education. There are currently four types of scholarships offered, all of which target different needs: the Union Plus Scholarship, Union Leaders of the Future Scholarship, Union Plus National Labor College Scholarship, and Nationwide Scholarship Search. All are available to family members of dues-paying union members in good standing. The 2009 scholarship applications will be available through the Union Plus website in September 2008.

“In addition to our player development department, which offers career and continuing education guidance, the Union Plus scholarship opportunities and College Planning Center are excellent resources available through Union Plus,” said Gagnon. “These tools are available to our active and retired members and their children, and we hope to increase the awareness and use of these educational tools amongst our membership.”

The College Planning Center provides family members with career assessments as well as assistance with the completion of college admission forms. To help simplify the timeline of the college application process, the center breaks it up into several segments: discovering, selecting, deciding, preparing, applying and paying.

To take advantage of these scholarship and college assistance opportunities and more, login in the upper right corner of this page. If you do not yet have login account please contact our offices at 800-372-2000. Active players should ask for ext. 475 or 474 and retired members should ask for ext. 167. Once logged in, click on Membership Discount Programs to view all current offers, which are subject to change.

Julius Peppers is BACK!!!

Published Thursday, August 14, 2008
by Mike Cranston, The Associated Press

Julius Peppers broke out of his slumber and was dominant again. DeAngelo Williams made a case to start by darting through giant holes opened by the new, mammoth offensive line.

Jake Delhomme had no setbacks from his elbow surgery. Steve Smith made another spectacular catch – and kept his hands off his teammates.

The impressive showing by Carolina's first team in the Panthers' 23-20 overtime win over the Indianapolis Colts in Saturday's preseason opener gave reason for optimism –and wariness.

“It was just nice to have both sides of the ball operating efficiently to start the game,'' left tackle Jordan Gross said.

But the Panthers have done this before. They are 17-8 in exhibitions under coach John Fox and have won six straight preseason openers. The offense has scored on its first possession three straight years.

It didn't translate to the regular season the last two years, with the 8-8 and 7-9 records putting plenty of pressure on Fox and the Panthers to produce this year.

Still, the early signs against a makeshift Colts team missing Peyton Manning, Dwight Freeney and Bob Sanders were clearly encouraging.

Peppers, who lacked energy, speed and strength last season, was all over the field and embarrassed Colts left tackle Tony Ugoh in his first start since moving to right defensive end. Peppers recorded a sack, a forced fumble and a hurry that led Jim Sorgi to throw an interception on the first two series.

Williams turned both turnovers into touchdowns runs for a 14-0 lead barely three minutes into the game.

“He's all the way back,'' linebacker Thomas Davis said of Peppers. “You can say something was wrong with him, but he hasn't missed a beat this year.''

Delhomme has looked fully recovered from ligament-replacement surgery in practice, but threw only one pass in his preseason debut, an incompletion.

Instead, the Panthers turned to Williams on both of their short drives after the turnovers. Williams carried nine times for 55 yards and two TDs.

“He ran great. He broke tackles,'' Delhomme said. “I think this year we will be able to see for certain what DeAngelo Williams can do.''

He took the early lead over rookie Jonathan Stewart in the competition for the starting job. Stewart spent the game in street clothes, another troubling sign as the first-round pick takes a long time to recover from offseason toe surgery.

“The doctors here know what they're doing,'' Stewart said. “I just put my trust in them.''

Williams and Stewart are expected to get plenty of carries behind a line that features a different player at all five positions. Their debut was impressive as the Panthers try to return to a consistent running game missing since their Super Bowl season in 2003.

“I think we made great moves in the offseason,'' center Ryan Kalil said. “Coach Fox and (GM) Marty Hurney did a great job of bringing in guys who are big. We talked about beefing up the offensive line.''

A balanced offense could bring more opportunities for the Panthers top playmaker, the volatile Smith. Just over a week after Smith broke cornerback Ken Lucas' nose in practice and was suspended for the first two regular-season games, Smith made an impressive leaping catch for a 19-yard gain before his abbreviated night ended.

Even Dwayne Jarrett, who had a difficult rookie season and was mocked by Smith late last year, had three catches for 43 yards. Twice he held onto passes from backup Matt Moore after being hit hard.

“The offensive line did a great job in protection. The quarterback went through his progressions and I was wide open,'' Jarrett said. “I just made the play. It felt great, but we're still trying to get better.''

The teamwork angle was being worked by many players after the marathon game ended late Saturday night with John Kasay's 46-yard field goal with 3:53 left in overtime.

But there's reason to be cautious in the praise. Five defensive starters missed the game, with the secondary especially hard hit with injuries in training cap. Lucas still needs to return from surgery on his nose, and the offensive must prove it can be consistent.

Last year, the Panthers went on an 81-yard touchdown drive in their first preseason game against the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. They looked awful the next week in Philadelphia, a sign of things to come. On Thursday, the Panthers visit the Eagles.

“Last year we went up to Philly and we laid an egg. We were awful,'' Delhomme said. “So we have to go back to work.''

Okoye Golf Classic

September 16, 2008
Sierra Lakes Golf Club, 16600 Clubhouse Dr.
Fontana, CA 909 350 2500

All participants of Okoye Golf Classic will play Golf with celebrities in their foursomes; (which includes, cart, lunch, goody bag, and awards dinner after golf). Beautiful caddies from Hooters Restaurants are available for all foursomes.

Invited players include: Eric Dickerson, Marcus Allen, Reggie Doss, Richard Roundtree, Tommy Davis, Junior Seau, Andre Reed, etc...

Golf Sponsorship Levels:

$550 - For Individual golf and Dinner together
$2,000 - Bronze Sponsor - 1 foursome and t-sign.
$4,000 - Silver sponsor - 1 foursomes, caddy, banners and t-signs.
$6,000 - Gold Sponsor - 2 foursomes, caddy, t-signs and banners.
$15,000 - Dinner Sponsor - 3 foursomes, caddy, t-signs and banners
$20,000 - Presenting Sponsor - 3 foursomes, caddy, t-signs and banners

Lunch provided by OUTBACK Steak House, Dinner and Golf on Monday with celebrities, green fees, cart, beverages, 1 mulligan. (T-signs and banners included with foursomes, if you provide the banners. Beautiful caddies from Hooters Restaurants are available for all foursopmesfoursomes.

‘Maddenpalooza’ Headlines 20th Anniversary

As the start of the 2008 NFL season approaches in earnest, one much-awaited event remains. At 12 a.m. EST on Aug. 12, sports fans won’t have to wait any longer as they will finally have the chance to get their hands on the popular video game franchise Madden NFL 09.

Making this year’s game even more special, Electronic Arts will commemorate the 20th anniversary of Madden by celebrating its release with the biggest product launch event in its history.

“‘Maddenpalooza’ will be the single largest launch event in video game history,” said EA Sports president Peter Moore. “As we continue to extend the EA Sports brand, Madden acts as a leading vehicle to connect with our fans.”

With more than 70 million copies sold, the franchise is gearing up to put the finishing touches on its 20th anniversary release party. The launch event, “Maddenpalooza,” will celebrate its top-selling game with a fan festival featuring music, sports and gaming at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. Launch festivities will take place on the afternoon of Aug. 11 leading up to the midnight release.

Anthony Stevenson, Senior Product Manager for Madden, explained, “We plan to pay homage to Madden’s history in a big way throughout the entire night at ‘Maddenpalooza.’ We’ll have former cover guys there to sign autographs, tons of imagery from all the old games and live musical performances from bands who have contributed to the Madden soundtrack over the years.” Headliners for the live musical performances will include Good Charlotte and Busta Rhymes.

“This event is a way to celebrate the history and future of Madden,” said Chris Erb, Director of Marketing for Electronic Arts. NFL PLAYERS Chief Operating Officer Andy Feffer agreed, adding, “The magnitude of ‘Maddenpalooza’ and the 20th anniversary of the Madden game are impressive. The fact that the Madden phenomena has grown to these proportions demonstrates the great innovation of EA Sports as an organization. We are thrilled to be partners with the leaders in the video game industry.”

The history of the Madden launch event dates back to 2006, when EA personnel began to realize that gamers were actually taking the day off from work and school in anticipation of purchasing a copy of the game.

Erb said, “With the growth of the EA Sports brand, we felt the launch of the game deserved an impact similar to that of a theatrical release.” So, in August 2006, EA trekked down to Madden, Miss. (the only town named Madden in the United States) and held an event, “Maddenoliday,” which featured retired NFL stars Jerry Rice, Marshall Faulk and Warren Moon.

“The idea was to do more to connect with our allegiance of followers,” Erb said. The Xbox-sponsored event included donations of Xbox 360 consoles to the town of Madden for everyone to get a first look at the game.


In 2007, EA took things a step further as “Maddenoliday” took place on the grandest of stages, New York City. Players and fans were able to compete against each other on the Jumbo-tron in Times Square. Not to leave any stone unturned, the midnight release of the game culminated with a countdown on the Reuters building, with New York Giants great Tiki Barber presenting the sale of the first game at a nearby Toys “R” Us.

So, how will next week’s “Maddenpalooza” top “Maddenoliday” from the previous two years?

“We want this year to be different and fresh. But most importantly, we want to get the fans more involved then ever before,” Erb said. “So, what we’ve done for the first time this year is create an interactive fan experience where the event is open to the public.”

Although the event is open to the public, there is still a bit of a VIP twist to it, as only the first 1,000 fans in line are guaranteed access. But those inside will not be disappointed—the newest version is extremely realistic, featuring authentic NFL stadiums, action shots from several angles and many added features.

Once inside, the event will include over 300 gaming kiosks, player autograph stages, the aforementioned live musical performances and even the chance to compete against NFL players on Madden NFL 09, “the best Madden to date,” according to head producer Phil Frazier. “It’s the most adaptable, visually stunning and deepest experience you’ve ever seen. I’m still amazed when I see the game in motion,” he said.

Madden fever is in full swing, and for the 20th time, there is no doubt that EA will deliver in a big way for its loyal customers. Fans have the date circled on their calendars, and don’t be surprised to see the most faithful Madden players camping out in front of the Rose Bowl. Some view it as the opportunity of a lifetime—to others, it’s simply this year’s Maddenoliday.