Each fall, the Ohio State Buckeyes take to the gridiron to face the Penn State Nittany Lions, each team battling to be the victor. However, these two accomplished football programs have found a way to put rivalry aside and come together for a much bigger cause; one in which all can be victorious.
When Scott Shirley was a redshirt junior on the Penn State football team in 2002, he received a devastating call. His father, Don Shirley, who had been treated for kidney cancer in 1993, once again had the disease. Unfortunately for the Shirley family, all of the major hospitals they visited in the Mid-Atlantic region told them that nothing could be done. Clinging to hope, the family went to the Johns Hopkins Hospital, but received the same answer.
"After the doctors confirmed this harsh reality, I reached out to the Kidney Cancer Association," Shirley said. In doing so, Shirley discovered the reason why no doctor had been able to help his father - kidney cancer is a rare disease, affecting only 200,000 Americans each year. He realized that there was not enough funding or attention to find a treatment for a disease that affected so few people. It was then that Scott, in collaboration with his former roommate and fellow teammate Damone Jones, decided that something needed to be done to raise awareness of rare diseases like kidney cancer. The two brought the idea to the Nittany Lions football team and staff, who quickly rallied around the idea. The result was the formation of Uplifting Athletes.
The original idea behind Uplifting Athletes was to create a national nonprofit organization run largely by football student athletes to benefit rare diseases relevant to their university. In 2003, Shirley organized Lift for Life, a strength training competition among Penn State football players. The annual event raises money for the Kidney Cancer Association.
In 2006, a rare disease hit close to home for the OSU football family when quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Shirley, who was working in Washington D.C. as an engineer, saw a press clipping about Daniels. He said he got chills when reading the story because it sounded all too familiar. Soon after, Shirley called Matt Daniels, the son of coach Joe Daniels and former OSU football player, and told him about Uplifting Athletes. He said Matt took to the idea of becoming a part of Uplifting Athletes, and the OSU chapter of the organization was born.
"I began my process of learning about Uplifting Athletes two years ago when I was contacted by Scott," Matt Daniels said. "We had two things in common: we both were walk-on players for a Big Ten team, and more importantly, our fathers both had been diagnosed with kidney cancer. Scott told me about a nonprofit organization that he had started at Penn State, and I was eager to learn more."
Matt heads the OSU chapter, and many other Buckeye football players are also involved. His sister, Kaitlin, a member of the Ohio State Cheerleading team, is also involved in the organization. In July, the OSU chapter held its own event like Lift for Life at Penn State. However, they decided to center it on a video game tournament between football players, hosted at Eddie George's Grille 27. To date, the Ohio State chapter has raised $2,200 for the Kidney Cancer Association, and Matt Daniels said the organization is looking forward to the event this summer.
The newest chapter of Uplifting Athletes is Colgate University, which raises funds to treat histiocytosis, a group of diseases caused by the immune system. Shirley said there are currently about a dozen other schools that are hoping to start chapters in the near future.
Jordan Figel can be reached at figel.4@osu.edu.
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