Call it the ultimate of hurry-up offenses.
After teaming with St. Tammany Hospital Foundation last October for a celebrity waiter event benefiting St. Tammany Cancer Center, a campus of Ochsner Medical Center, a team of former NFL players is already game-planning for a repeat event to coincide with the NFL Draft in April.
“Philanthropy is every bit as much a team sport as football, so nobody should be surprised how these guys were able to pull together for such a successful event in October,” said Melanie Rudolph of St. Tammany Hospital Foundation. “But for them to huddle up so quickly for what I’m sure will be another big win – let’s just name all of them MVP’s.”
October’s Celebrity Waiter Tailgate Soirée, hosted by St. Tammany Hospital Foundation, saw ticket-holders gather at the Lake Pontchartrain Maritime Museum in Madisonville to watch the Saints take on the Arizona Cardinals, to bid on Saints memorabilia in live and silent auctions, and to feast on catering by Mr. Mudbug.
During the game, members of the New Orleans chapter of the NFL Players Association serving as waiters circulated among attendees.
Among those players taking part: outgoing chapter President Matt Dorsett and event organizer Ron Krajewski, along with Eric Alexander, Curtis Baham, Gary Barbaro, Tom Broom, Chuck Commiskey, Dave Geralds, Norm Hodgins, Clarence Matthews, Mike McKenzie, David Pittman, Bernard Robertson, Eric Rouse, Lance Smith, Michael Strachan, Chaz Sutton and Herb Williams.
By the time the game was over, the event had raised more than $20,000 for patient services at the cancer center.
“This was one of those events where everybody was a winner,” said St. Tammany Hospital Foundation
Specialist Doug Walker. “We can’t wait to tee it up again.”
The rematch is set for April 27 and will once more feature former players doing tableside service, this time as attendees take in the first night of the 2023 NFL Draft.