STATE COLLEGE — Scott Shirley said his vision for “Lift for Life” started during his years as a wide receiver at Penn State.
His father, Don Shirley, was diagnosed with a rare cancer while he was playing for the Nittany Lions — he suited up from 1999-2003— and doctors told the Shirley family that there wasn’t anything they could do.
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Shirley told PennLive that’s when he decided to use his platform to raise awareness to rare diseases. And with the help of his teammates, the blueprint he mapped out in 2003 came to fruition and still exists nearly two decades later.
Check out a video of the event made by PennLive’s Jimmie Brown below:
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“A lot of people have reminded me today that they still remember my dad,” Shirley said. “It’s just been cool that his memory stays alive in this and, you know, the impact that the organization has been able to have on the rare disease community.”
Uplifting Athletes hosted its first in-person Lift for Life event since 2019, due to COVID-19, on Thursday, and many players on the team were ecstatic for its return. A total for the amount raised was not available Thursday, but the 2019 event raised nearly $36,000 heading into that weekend.
Redshirt freshman Landon Tengwall — an offensive lineman and one of the Uplifting Athletes officers at PSU— was one of the main guys showing his excitement.
“It definitely means a lot,” Tengwall said. “We’re doing this for a great cause, you know, and Uplifting Athletes is a great organization.
“Last year was my first year doing it, and it just wasn’t the same as in years past,” he added. “So, we’re just really excited to have everybody out here. I love being around kids. I got a ton of little cousins.”
Tengwall and several of his teammates engaged in fun-filled field activities with the kids who came to participate in the event on the team’s Lasch Practice Fields. And some players, including former Central Dauphin East wide receiver/defensive back Mehki Flowers, even signed autographs for a few of the fans after some up-tempo relay races and passing drills.
While there were players who interacted with the kids by playing games on one end of the field, on the other were guys who were having a friendly bench-pressing competition to see who could do the most reps.
Keaton Ellis, a junior safety, said he was honored to be a part of initiative and put a smile on kids’ faces.
“It’s awesome, you know, to use the platform that we have for a great cause,” Ellis said. “And just to know that we all make an impact and raise money for rare diseases is exciting.”
Shirley’s mission back in 2003 was to create a movement that aligned college football with rare diseases by elevating the importance of them across the country.
And he says he used football as a way to shine a spotlight and help raise money towards the cause.
“You know, one thing I learned in the beginning was if we did nothing else, we were in a position to inspire patients with hope”, he said, “because we were doing something that nobody else was.”
— Follow Nebiy Esayas on Twitter @_nebiy_
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