New
York Jets Owner Woody Johnson Announced as Honoree for
the Inaugural Steinberg DeNicola Humanitarian Award
PHILADELPHIA, PA - (January 19, 2015) – Iconic
sports agent Leigh Steinberg and serial entrepreneur
Cosmo DeNicola today
announced New York Jets owner Robert “Woody“ Johnson IV,
as an inaugural recipient of the first annual Steinberg
DeNicola Humanitarian Award, an award designed to
commemorate members of the NFL community for their
humanitarian efforts.
Johnson is confirmed to receive the award during the 28th Annual
Leigh Steinberg Super Bowl Party on Saturday, January 31
at the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix. The owner will
be honored on behalf of his contribution to medical
research as well as his support for The United States
veterans.
Johnson is attributed to finding and establishing The
Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR), a national voluntary
health organization dedicated to taking a leading role
in raising funds to prevent, treat, and cure the chronic
disease. Since establishing ALR in 1999, Johnson
ensured that the funding of medical research would
remain the organization’s driving tenant. To date, The
ALR has given more money to lupus research than any
non-governmental agency in the world; almost $100
million to date. Every dollar raised--one hundred
percent of all donations--goes directly to support lupus
research programs.
In
addition to supporting medical research, Mr. Johnson and
the New York Jets recently donated $1,000,000 to the
Stephen Siller Tunnel to Tower Foundation to support
catastrophically wounded veterans in the region. This
contribution will fund the construction of two homes
through the Foundation’s Building for America’s Bravest
program. This program builds specially adapted,
custom-designed smart homes to help restore independence
and improve the quality of life for our nation’s most
seriously injured service members.
“The NFL—its players, coaches, employees and owners, do
so much to help others. Whether mentoring students in
under-served communities, inspiring patients in
hospitals or supporting our wounded military veterans,
the NFL can be counted on to be there,” said Johnson. “I
am honored to receive the first Steinberg DeNicola
Humanitarian Award, and am grateful to Leigh and Cosmo,
for creating this award to highlight those
achievements.”
The
Steinberg DeNicola Humanitarian Award for Johnson was
made possible through inaugural sponsor, The
China American Football League (CAFL) and
its founder, Martin
Judge for
bringing American Football to China. In addition to a
portion of each sponsorship, all proceeds from
Steinberg’s annual silent auction will be donated to the
local Phoenix affiliates of Johnson’s respective causes.
For
more information on The Steinberg DeNicola Humanitarian
Award, please visit
www.cosmodenicola.com