Alicia Quinn (left) with Sgt. Shane Parsons, one of the individuals helped by the 3rd & Goal Foundation, and Shawn Johnson at the 2015 foundation golf outing.
Former NFL quarterback Brady Quinn is now working with a whole different group of receivers.
Quinn is a 2003 graduate of Dublin Coffman High School and a 2007 graduate of the University of Notre Dame. He ended his tenures at both schools as starting quarterback and also racked up impressive achievements at both, including 36 team records at Notre Dame and very close finishes in the Heisman Trophy voting his junior and senior years.
Quinn played in the NFL from 2007 to 2012, throwing for the Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs. He then spent two years on the rosters of a handful of teams – including the Seattle Seahawks, New York Jets, St. Louis Rams and Miami Dolphins – before transitioning into a TV broadcasting role.
Quinn, now a Florida resident, serves as a studio and game analyst for college and pro football, notably for FOX Sports. But he periodically returns to central Ohio – partly to visit family, and partly on behalf of his charitable endeavor, the 3rd & Goal Foundation.
Quinn and his wife, Alicia, started the foundation in 2010 with the goal of helping veterans in need of home-related assistance.
A good example: a home renovation for a veteran in Washington. The foundation replaced the flooring in the kitchen, dining room and living room, as well as the siding.
“We also restored the deck and stairs (and) rebuilt railings,” says Alicia.
During a Christmastime visit to Colorado Springs, Brady encountered soldiers who had seen combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Several of them had sustained serious injuries overseas, including loss of limbs and mobility, and were having difficulty getting funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs to adapt to their new postwar lifestyles.
Brady talked with his father, Tyrone, a Marine who served in Vietnam, about finding individuals in need of that type of help. Both of Brady’s grandfathers served in World War II, and he says he may well have enlisted himself had he not played football.
In the years since, the foundation has built custom entrances and exits, and remodeled and renovated kitchens and bathrooms.
“Since 3rd & Goal was founded, we’ve had the honor of directly helping 15 different veterans, plus their families and loved ones,” says Alicia.
Though many of the veterans to whom the foundation has reached out are veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it also aims to help those whose past injuries have gotten worse.
Among the 3rd & Goal Foundation’s projects are:
-Delivery, in coordination with the United Service Organizations (USO), of Christmas gifts to a Columbus veteran and his family;
-An automated control system – including power dampers, low-voltage relays, low-voltage wiring and supply run extensions from the wood burner to the air handler – as well as an HVAC system for a Lancaster veteran;
-Christmas gifts and a washer and dryer for a Lima veteran and his family;
-An accessible ramp and rebuilt back deck for a Toledo veteran;
-A trained service dog for a Coshocton veteran; and
-A new HVAC system for a Sunbury veteran.
That Sunbury veteran is Marine Mike Damroze, who was deployed in Iraq from July 2005 to February 2006.
In September 2005, the Humvee Damroze was riding in was 6-12 feet away from a firebomb when it went off. Damroze suffered permanent nerve damage on his left side, hearing loss and damage to his lower back.
He was selected for the Homes for Heroes program through Adaptive Homes, CDC, a Westerville-based nonprofit that builds houses for disabled veterans.
“They basically built me a house from the ground up,” says Damroze. “The whole house was built on donations.”
3rd & Goal was one of a number of different organizations that contributed to the new house; it worked with Carr Heating and Cooling of east Columbus to get the HVAC system. Other groups donated electrical work, plumbing, drywall, framework and more.
“I appreciated everything that’s happened,” says Damroze. “I appreciate that I was selected for (the program), I appreciate everything 3rd & Goal did for me … and not just for me, but for the wounded veterans community.”
The 3rd & Goal Foundation’s reach is not limited to Ohio, though many of its projects have taken place here.
“Down here in Florida, we’re providing housing for a female veteran who is battling issues with homelessness,” Brady says.
The foundation also brought four World War II veterans to a Notre Dame football game in Washington, D.C. and provided public relations and fundraising support for the Robert L. Miller Sr. Veteran’s Center.
“Our future short-term contribution plans consist of aiding the Women’s Veteran Center by supplying hygiene products and the donation of beds to the Commons at Livingston,” Alicia says.
The foundation aims to expand beyond Ohio and the Midwest, but will go wherever it is needed, she says.
“We want to grow bigger each year and continue to make an impact in the lives of our veterans,” says Alicia.
The foundation holds an annual summer golf tournament. Next year’s is scheduled for June 25.
More information on 3rd & Goal – including donation opportunities – can be found on its website, www.3andg.org.
Garth Bishop is managing editor. Feedback welcome at hbealer@cityscenecolumbus.com.
