by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Has your child come home recently beaming about meeting a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars at school? Did some of you get an autographed photo of perhaps Byron Leftwich in the mail? Did you notice that members of the team’s practice squad were holding buckets outside Alltel Stadium Sunday, raising money for the Red Cross?
Whether these things have happened to you or not, they are the work of the team’s Community Relations department, specifically Nyree Bowen and Chris Millman. Along with ready, willing and able players — superstars and practice squadders alike — Bowen and Millman organize everything from talks to school kids to hospital visits.
Bowen is in her fifth season with the team while Millman is technically in his first (he was an intern last year). Tuesday is community day with the team because it’s their lone day off during the season and Bowen and Millman spend a great deal of their time planning ways to get as many Jaguars in the public eye as possible. Considering they are dealing with highly-paid professional athletes, you’d think it takes a little cajoling to get three players over to Wolfson Children’s Hospital. Hardly.
“We have been fortunate in that our players are very community-minded,” said Bowen who is from Central Florida and graduated from George Mason University in 1997.
Bowen said many times the players are asked to speak to inner-city kids or others that are socially, economically and physically challenged. To the players, it’s sometimes like talking with younger version of themselves and they truly enjoy relating their personal stories and successes.
“Some of them have had hard backgrounds and they are the example of how to overcome that,” said Bowen. “They have personal experiences and they want to share those experiences.”
Millman said the team tries to get to the entire viewing area, but admits their focus is on the immediate Jacksonville area.
“We will go into Clay, St. Johns and Nassau counties,” said Millman, who is from the Washington, D.C. area but graduated from the
University of North Florida. Millman and Bowen said that while the overall scope and goal of the team’s community relations department is fairly consistent, the ever-changing, almost nomadic nature of an NFL team presents new challenges each year. One of the first things Bowen and Millman do is meet with each player individually to find out what areas of community relations interest them the most.
“We talked to them about what they liked doing, which causes they like and if they like speaking to groups or prefer one-on-one,” explained Millman, adding that knowing a player’s preferences helps him and Bowen place the right player with the right community opportunity. “Organizations call us and ask if a player can come talk to physically-challenged kids. We have a chart we go to and use as a basis for who to send where.”
Both Bowen and Millman said it helps to have owners — Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver — that set the bar for the team on community involvement.
“The Weavers are the example of giving back to the community, not just the organization,” said Bowen. “Last week, they donated $1 million to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund. They are the example of giving back to the community and how to give back.”
Another thing Bowen and Millman agree on is their job. They love it.
“I absolutely love it,” said Bowen. “In high school I played basketball and I always knew I wanted to work around sports. I always wanted to be a part of something where I could give back and do something for others.”
Millman echoed those sentiments.
“It’s such a great position to be in where I get to deal with the players, work in the community, have an affect on people’s lives and lift their spirits,” said Millman.