Tonight the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers will face off in the NFL’s biggest game of the year, Super Bowl XLV. In celebration of the game, today we are featuring one of the NFL’s finest, Warrick Dunn.
In 1993, Warrick Dunn’s mother, Betty Ann Smothers, was an off-duty police officer escorting a businesswoman to a bank to make a night deposit, was ambushed and killed by armed robbers. Warrick, at age 18, became the head of the household and responsible for his younger siblings.
Warrick founded the Warrick Dunn Foundation to take his mom’s dreams and make them a reality for others. The work he has done through the organization resulted in Warrick being awarded the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2005 and the Bart Starr Award in 2009. In 2008, Dunn’s book “Running for My Life” was released which chronicles his life on and off the football field, and talks extensively about grieving the loss of his mom.
As you are watching the game tonight, celebrate Warrick + his journey in celebrating the memory of his mom.
Would you like to share your story? Please get in touch with Kate's Club! KC has free grief support with grief resources, grief counseling resources, grief training, and volunteer work in Atlanta and surrounding places in Georgia. Kate's Club is a growing nonprofit in Atlanta with grief specialists for kids and young adults going through bereavement. Our goal is to make a world where it is okay to grieve.