TAMPA, Fla. — On the field, Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive back Zyon McCollum is determined not to give an inch.
Off the field, that’s far from the case.
“Zyon is a great player,” E.J. Smith, 12, said. "If my dad was here, he would’ve freaked out. He loves the Bucs and everything.”
Thanksgiving came early for kids at the Jackson Heights Youth Education Town Center.
Nearly 200 meals were served up with the help of the Bucs’ fourth-year player.
“Just wanted to come outside and give the kids a meal for the upcoming Thanksgiving, and bring smiles, give thanks, being around families to enjoy a meal together,” McCollum told Tampa Bay 28 sports anchor Kyle Burger.
McCollum and his wife, Acacia, created the “A to Z Foundation,” a non-profit that empowers teachers to have the resources needed to help children.
“That involves fighting food insecurities with kids, having giveaways, back-to-school events, also just being a mentor to a lot of the kids,” he said. “We come from teachers’ backgrounds, so our families have been around the education system for a while. This is right up our alley.”
“It means the world to these kids to get a chance to meet Zyon in person, he’s someone they watch on TV every Sunday,” Jackson Heights site supervisor Jamal Jefferson added. “Zyon has been here before. He’s not new to these kids. To have him take time out of his day to spend the time with our kids, it's awesome.”
McCollum is no stranger to these kids. Over the past year, he took a number of them back to school shopping and helped renovate their facility.
“The biggest thing about our foundation is the consistency,” he said. “We don’t want to have one-off events, we want to show up in these kids' lives and see how they progress through months, years. This won’t be our last time at the NFL YET Center. We’re going to continue to come back and keep up with these kids' progress.”
He does that by getting to know the children on a personal level.
“Being able to have that type of interaction with these kids really shows how much they care,” McCollum said. “Not only about me, but this city makes you want to pour right back into them. They have so much life and so much potential.”
“This year, if he keeps up the work, he might be MVP,” E.J. added.
An MVP on the field and off of it.
Share Your Story with Kyle Burger
For Tampa Bay 28 Sports Anchor Kyle Burger, pride in our local teams goes beyond college and the pros. Sports connect us as communities and families. You can connect with Kyle to share your passion for your local athletes below.
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