PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – “It overshadows any football accolade or play or moment that I will ever have barring we don’t go and win the whole thing this year.”
Tight end Vance McDonald upon finding out of his selection as the Steelers Walter Payton Man of the Year Award nominee.
“I’m so greatly honored, I have so much appreciation for being recognized in that way,” McDonald said. “My wife and I, we’ve taken this opportunity to be in the NFL to be able to give back off the field. It’s so much more to us than football. It’s a great affirmation to know that we have done a lot to help people out.”
McDonald said he wants to make sure his young teammates understand the importance of giving back. He said it hit him at a NFL rookie symposium seven years ago when all the first year players were told people look up to them.
“Whether they do like it or not, they are role models,” McDonald said. “There’s kids in every community, whether it’s the community you came from or not, but somebody is looking up to you. It’s a huge concept for guys to grasp.”
“It’s super-easy as a player to think you are contained in this box. The only thing people really care about is how I perform on the field. They love me when I’m performing well. The don’t love me when I’m not performing well. Whether its true or not, it’s definitely a real feeling.”
McDonald said it’s a barrier that if they feel trapped that can hold athletes back from doing amazing good.
“I love this idea of trying to spread the awareness especially to young guys,” McDonald said. “They are entering into a domain you are unfamiliar with. You have an incredible amount of resources. You’re on top of the world in terms of the sport and level of play. You can lose your head in that, on top of the insurmountable pressure that you are feeling all the time.”
The journey towards helping others out started in San Francisco for McDonald, working with a foundation with the goal of feeding the world called Convoy of Hope. The Winnie, Texas native created what he called an extremely successful event with the Steelers last year called Huddle for the Holiday, where he said the charitable group allowed McDonald and the team to plan what they wanted.
They provided necessities and other services for 500 people, in all age ranges.
“How much we care about the people in this city,” McDonald said. “We are not here to make them smile when they watch us on TV or when they watch us live at Heinz Field. It’s so much more than that. It’s so cool when it all comes together.”
McDonald says he admires all of the charity work Cam Heyward and Maurkice Pouncey have done for years saying they are ‘absolutely insane players who are also Hall of Fame men’.
“I love the culture they have built here with the Steelers,” McDonald said. “Obviously success and championships is what we are going after on the football field. The quality of men that we have here in the locker room. That I’ve been able to join and call my football family. It’s inspiring to me every single day.”
They have created good-natured competition among the veteran players to see who can do more. That leads to a win for everyone.
In this year of dealing with a global pandemic and the divisiveness caused by political and cultural movements, the 30-year-old believes it’s important for them to do what they can to help.
“I’ve very much looked forward to a way to try and send out a message of hope and a message to all take a deep breath and relax a little bit because we don’t need all this hate, we don’t need this negativity,” McDonald said. “It all starts with love and caring and compassion. We have to have more stuff like this. We have to have more things that showcase what good people are doing.”