Carson Wentz spends his offseason working on something much bigger than football
The last time most football fans saw Carson Wentz, the Eagles quarterback was riding through the streets of Philadelphia in his team’s Super Bowl championship parade.
Wentz missed the Eagles’ storybook playoff run, having suffered a torn ACL and LCL in their Week 14 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. Backup Nick Foles took over for the MVP candidate from there and led Philadelphia to a stunning 41-33 victory over New England in Super Bowl LII.
While Wentz has spent much of the offseason working his way back from his devastating knee injury, he’s also taking time to help those in need.
Through the Carson Wentz A01 Foundation — “A01” stands for “Audience of One,” a reference to serving Jesus — the 25-year-old quarterback is helping to build a sports complex for young people in Haiti.
Wentz announced the effort Monday, promising to match every dollar raised up to $500,000 through May 14.
“Haiti was a place that we wanted to give back and feel connected both financially and hands-on,” Wentz said. “A sports complex is just a natural tie into what I am all about and to the foundation. It’s a way to give back. As a part of the AO1 foundation, the mission is to bring that joy and those resources to them so they can experience the joy and see the fruit.”
The complex is slated to have 10 soccer fields, six outdoor and two indoor basketball courts, dormitories, locker rooms, physiotherapy, a mess hall and a community park.
The ultimate goal, however, is to share the Gospel with children and youths in the impoverished Caribbean nation.
“While the AO1 Foundation believes that sports can teach valuable lessons to help advance the Haitian youth, we understand the ultimate goal is to reach these kids for Christ,” the foundation says on its website. “One of the beauties of the Sports Complex is that every North American and Haitian worker will be trained to include aspects of the Gospel when interacting with kids. Through these interactions with mentors and older role models, we believe children will begin to change the way they view the world around them. These coaches will be readily available to dig deeper in the Word with the players and help guide them to a local church. By working with local villages and local churches, we believe we can introduce every child that steps foot on the Sports Complex to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Wentz has partnered with Mission of Hope: Haiti on the complex, and he and several teammates recently visited Haiti to help set the project in motion.
Earlier this offseason, some #Eagles players took a trip to Haiti to help build a new sports complex and much more. pic.twitter.com/ZyFOZ8Qe7i
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) April 30, 2018
Members of the #Eagles recently took a trip to Haiti to help build a new sports complex.
Check out all of the photos: https://t.co/1ygcNntkdw pic.twitter.com/Ebm0hMIhnr
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/TUhlig19/status/991065497365045248
It’s just another chapter in what’s been quite an eventful 2018 for Wentz.
Two days after the Super Bowl, Wentz revealed he had gotten engaged to his girlfriend, Maddie Oberg.
After the Super Bowl parade, he headed to Washington, D.C., to give a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast dinner.
He spoke on the topic of servant leadership, saying, it’s “not about power, or gain, or being in charge, or being at the top. A servant leader shares power and put the needs of others first, and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.”
If you’d like to donate to Wentz’s Haiti project, visit the A01 Foundation website.
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