JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – JBLM leaders will host the Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) Real Warriors Campaign and three former NFL players for a Real Warriors Campaign Game Day event Saturday. The Game Day event will be held at the Nelson Recreation Center and is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m., before the Baltimore Ravens – Denver Broncos NFL playoff game.

Reintegration challenges facing Service members

During the Game Day event former NFL players Orlando Huff, Joe Tafoya and Chris Sanders will join Soldiers, Airmen and their families to socialize and discuss common reintegration challenges facing service members as well as the resources available to address them, and watch the Ravens vs. Broncos.

The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) has partnered with the DCoE Real Warriors Campaign to show service members and veterans that its members appreciate warriors’ service to our country and care about their psychological health and wellness.

The Real Warriors Campaign and the NFL Players Association encourage all warriors who are experiencing psychological health concerns to reach out for care and support and to access available resources.

Real Warrior Campaign History

The Real Warriors Campaign, launched in 2009, is a multimedia public awareness campaign designed to encourage help-seeking behavior among service members and veterans coping with invisible wounds.

The campaign is an integral part of the Defense Department’s overall effort to eliminate the stigma that was identified in the 2007 Mental Health Task Force Report and encourage help-seeking behavior for invisible wounds.

The Real Warriors Campaign is sponsored by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

 

Background information for NFL Players attending the Game Day event:

Orlando Huff

            College: Fresno State

A linebacker who was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft

            NFL Experience: 6 Seasons: 2001-2004 Seattle Seahawks; 2005-2006  Arizona Cardinals

Joe Tafoya

            College: Arizona

            A defensive end/linebacker who was drafted in the seventh round of the 2001 NFL Draft

NFL Experience: 7 Seasons: 2001-2003 Chicago Bears; 2005-2006 Seattle Seahawks; 2007 Arizona Cardinals

            As a Seattle Seahawk, Tafoya appeared in the 2005 Super Bowl against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He was picked up as a free agent by the Arizona Cardinals in 2007 and released after he suffered a career ending injury during the 2008 training camp

Chris Sanders

College: Ohio State

A wide receiver who was drafted by the Houston Oilers in the third round of the 1995 NFL Draft

NFL Experience: 8 Seasons: 1995-1998 Houston/Tennessee Oilers; 1999-2002 Tennessee            Titans

In 1999, Sanders appeared in Super Bowl XXXIV in which the Titans played against the St. Louis Rams