By Jim Gehman, Player Engagement Insider
With 79 receptions for 1,043 yards and nine touchdowns, Cleveland Brown’s tight end Gary Barnidge had a career-high and Pro Bowl-caliber 2015 season. Off the field he’s been a star as well.
At every Browns home game, Barnidge hosts 10 children from OhioGuidestone, a nonprofit organization providing residential care, foster care and community-based services to Cleveland families.
“They all get a shirt and a voucher for food, and OhioGuidestone picks a kid who comes on the field (following the game),” Barnidge said. “I give them a pair of shoes that they can actually wear and my game worn shoes.
“I also do a Christmas shopping spree. I take 20 of the kids every year to Toys"R"Us. Some of the kids have never been in a toy store. It’s an awesome experience. They have so much fun. They get to pick out anything they want.
“And I visit the OhioGuidestone house, where some boys stay. I spend time with them. I give them a couple gifts for their house. I think we have such impact as players to go leave an impact on people. You never know what they’re going through. Just spending time with somebody could change their whole outlook on how they see life.”
However, it doesn’t end there. Barnidge and University of Louisville buddies Breno Giacomini, an offensive tackle with the New York Jets, and Ahmed Awadallah, founded American Football without Barriers [AFWB], a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
“Four years ago, Ahmed, who’s Egyptian, and Breno were having dinner and they said, ‘Let’s do a (football) camp in Egypt,’ because Ahmed wanted to do one back home,” Barnidge said. “And he said, ‘Call Gary right now. He’ll 100 percent do it.’ So they called me and I said, ‘We’re in. We’re doing this.’
“And then the revolution broke out (which put the plans for a camp in Egypt on hold) and I said, ‘Let’s not just do it in one place, let’s do it somewhere different every year, and turn it into a non-profit where we can help others. And so we came up with American Football without Barriers.
“We went to China (in 2013), and then to Brazil (in 2014), and Turkey (in 2015). It’s been growing bigger and bigger each year. That’s what we want to do. We want to build things from the ground level up with the kids playing and enjoying the sport.
“And we also want to give these kids the opportunity to get a scholarship. They don’t recruit for football internationally the way they do for basketball, baseball and other sports. We’re trying to break that trend.”
The next AFWB camp will take place in February 2016 in Egypt. The camps, which are for males and females ages 8-25, offer Barnidge, Giacomini and other NFL players who have accompanied them on the trips, an opportunity to see football’s growing popularity overseas..
“In China, they have a huge following,” Barnidge said. “When we went over there, they had six teams. Since we left, they’ve got 14. In Brazil, they have over 30 teams playing. In Turkey, they have over 30 teams, as well. And they also have women’s teams in colleges playing flag football against other college teams.
“It’s huge. It’s growing tremendously. People are getting the opportunity, but they don’t get the proper teaching. They have coaches, but we want to teach them the basics. Teach them how to hit, teach them how to tackle, so that everything’s safe and it’s enjoyable for them.”
“This past year, we went to Turkey and did a football camp and we had girls on the field at the same time as the boys, competing with each other. Just seeing their drive and their fight, some of them wanted more than the boys did. And that’s not something that people do in Turkey. They don’t put women and men on the same field playing the same sport.
“One of the people who were there posted a picture on Instagram and tagged us as ‘Barrier Breakers.’ I think that was a fond memory for us because we did something that others don’t do over there. And that’s what we want to do. We want to stand out and do something that others aren’t doing. We want to leave a mark that helps build the sport.”
For all of his charitable contributions in Cleveland and abroad, Barnidge was named as the Browns’ nominee for the annual Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, which recognizes a player for the commitment he has demonstrated in helping others in the community.
“It’s a great honor,” said Barnidge. “I’m very appreciative that the Browns gave me that honor and that my teammates voted for me for that. It’s great because it shows what I’m doing is impacting a lot of people.
“But I don’t do anything I do for recognition. Everything I do, I could care less if anybody knows about it. I’m going to do it regardless. It’s something I just believe very wholeheartedly in.”