Brandon Chubb - "Life, Opportunity, Experience"

4/30/2022

Former NFL and Wake Forest linebacker Bradley Chubb’s career was cut short by an unfortunate

knee injury, but through experiences and a shift in his perspectives, he has dedicated himself to various causes outside of playing. 

During Chubb’s college years, he connected with the charity organization, HOPE (Help Our People Eat). HOPE aims to combat hunger and Chubb participated in one of their programs, Green Truck, to distribute and deliver nutritious and healthy meals to under-catered communities. 

Citing his ride on one of the trucks’ outings, he described the event as transformational: “It’s this big green food truck with cartoons of vegetables on the side, and you go into these neighborhoods and kids are chasing it like it's an ice cream truck. They're eating an apple and a boxed milk and a ham sandwich and some Go-Gurt, and they're having the best time of their lives. It humbled me and opened my eyes to more than football, more than just money, more than just material things. It's about life and experiences and opportunities and relationships.”

Chubb’s takeaways about, “more than just football”, are a prime example of players finding meaning and purpose outside of their sport. Oftentimes, sports become a major part of athletes’ identities, and once one is not able to participate any longer, many deeply suffer. Chubb, however, was able to find passion and purpose in community service, ascending past simply his playing career. As he shared, “it's about life and opportunities and experiences”. The sport of football and athletics provide people with “life, opportunities and experiences”. So one could attribute that Chubb was able to give meaning to community service because of the nature and lessons he learned from football. This is another example of how and why so many football players seem to gravitate towards charitable initiatives, during and after their careers. Football lays the mental framework in players' minds on why helping others is important. 

Chubb would go on to volunteer for HOPE for a substantial period attending and participating in the organization's Sunday programs helping distribute food to impoverished youth. He shared, “What motivated me to get out of my bed every Sunday morning was knowing that I was going to be able to put a smile on hundreds of kid’s faces.” He sights this experience as “100 percent… the springboard and the catalyst for, community-wise, everything I've done so far."

Chubb then further took this idea of “Life, opportunity, experience” and founded the “Chubb Foundation” with his younger brother, defensive end, Brandley Chubb. Like many other player foundations, their organization serves certain communities with mentorship, education, food, and football camps, but emphasizes the importance of teaching entrepreneurship. 

What Brandon Chubb learned from his experience with the HOPE program is reflected in what the Chubb Foundation does. They host football camps in Atlanta’s premier facility, Mercedes Benz Stadium, to unite and bring together community youth to play football. They host two chess events, one in the spring as a nine-week intensive course, teaching the link of life lessons through chess, and another in the winter, where Bradley Chubb tours twenty boys and girls clubs, hanging out and interacting with the youth. And most profoundly, they host the annual “holiday launch” which aims to address the problem of families going hungry near Christmas. They host kids to play top golf and give all children gift cards to local stores to ensure their families have meals for the holidays. These are just a few among the many events the Chubb Brothers host to unite the community. 

When Chubb’s NFL career was ended by his injury, he was left to sort out the direction his life would take without his beloved sport. However through the NFL’s PAIR program, Player Association Injured Reserve program, he eventually achieved the position of player director in 2021 of the NFL Players Association. His motivation to do so further aligned with his idea of the human aspect of football. He emphasized that serving the players was what made his position fulfilling and that he has a “servant's heart”. Giving meaning to his work, "I think guys take it for granted, the time they're in the league and the head start in life they get by playing football at a high level. I'm there to make sure they get the most out of it, squeeze the most juice out of the orange and also get more oranges."

Bradley Chubb utilized a charity experience in his college football years to sail him into his later ventures of community service. He learned to lead efforts in areas beyond just the game which was unfortunately taken away from him. He was able to pass on and instill the important value that life is more than just material things. “Life, opportunity, and relationships” are what makes life special, and his ventures outside of football support that sentiment by uniting, organizing, and inspiring change and growth.

---

Works Cited

Chubb Foundation. www.chubbfoundation.com/aboutus.

McGuire, Corbin. "How one experience at Wake Forest inspired Brandon Chubb to give back." NCAA, 27 4 2022, www.ncaa.org/news/2022/4/27/media-center-how-one- experience-at-wake-forest-inspired-brandon-chubb-to-give-back.aspx.