Shaun Alexander knows the craziness of Super Bowl week as he played in the big game as a member of the Seattle Seahawks during the 2005 season. But while Alexander is in Los Angeles for Super Bowl LVI, he isn’t just there to see the Cincinnati Bengals take on the Los Angeles Rams. PopCulture.com recently caught up with the former Seahawks running back who talked about how he’s helping troubled youth with the help of Cafe Momentum, the Players Coalition and Stand Together.
“Friday night, we are doing a dinner,” Alexander told PopCulture. “It’s going to be our third dinner with Cafe Momentum and all the groups, Stand together, Players Coalition. Some of the NFL legends are going to be there. Cafe Momentum is special. It started with an award-winning chef in Dallas named Chad. He decided to change his restaurant from just making money, which no restaurant really does, to a one-year paid internship for kids in the juvenile system. He just came up with a new way to change the juvenile justice system.”
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Alexander continued, “And I heard about it. I saw the kids from going from recidivism being 50%, to now 15%, the kids that go through his program. And if you talk about the 15%, they’re like, ‘Great, it’s less kids.’ But the success that’s happening off those kids that are in it is just amazing. … I’ve been so proud of watching some of the kids really take on and get their education, take on real jobs and become really successful. So the popup dinner is to raise attention. Because after I met them, I set up the goal to say, ‘Hey, let’s put one in every NFL city.’”
Alexander went on to say the project has expanded to Pittsburgh, Nashville, and of course Los Angeles. He hopes to create “30 more of them that really just changed the lives of so many kids that have been … They’ve made mistakes, but some of these mistakes are costing more than the crime that they committed. And so, I want to do something about it.”
The dinner will take place at the Rossoblu in downtown Los Angeles and will feature local justice-involved youth preparing and serving a three-course meal to NFL players legends and community leaders. Alexander, who played nine seasons in the NFL, will be on-site for the event helping to cook and serve media and athletes. On Thursday, the Players Coalition will be at Radio Row with a pop-up food truck where lunched will be served by the Player Coalition members and the justice-impacted youth.
