Donnie Edwards: NFL Star and Philanthropist

The Jack Carr Channel

Jack Carr

Society & Culture

4.9 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2021

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today's guest on Danger Close is Donnie Edwards.

Donnie Edwards spent 13 years as a linebacker in the NFL and is one of only eight players in the history of the league to have more than 20 interceptions and 20 sacks during his career. Inspired by stories from his grandfather, a Pearl Harbor survivor, and a life-changing conversation with a WWII veteran, Donnie founded the Best Defense Foundation in 2018 with the mission of “Taking Care of the Ones Who Took Care of Us.” The foundation honors and celebrates our veterans from past conflicts including WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Through the foundation’s Battlefield Return program, more than 100 WWII veterans have been able to remember their fallen comrades and gain closure returning to the battlefields on which they fought: Normandy, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, Guam, Saipan and Tinian.

The Best Defense Foundation is also focused on educating future generations about the heroism and sacrifices of those who served through the preservation of their first-hand accounts, recording interviews with over 200 WWII combat veterans.

You can follow Donnie on Instagram @donnie_edwards and you can learn more about his work @bestdefensefoundation.

Presented by SIG Sauer.

Featured Gear:

Today’s gear highlight portion looks at companies that have supported Best Defense Foundation.

1170 Pelican Protector Case

Oakley Standard Issue Sunglasses

Black Rifle Coffee Club Subscription

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Danger Close Podcast, beyond the books with me, Jack Carr.
0:16.6	Welcome to the Danger Close Podcast, Niren Cloud Original, presented by Six Hour.
0:20.9	My guest today is my friend Donnie Edwards.
0:22.8	And if you're a sports fan, you probably know him from his days playing at UCLA, then
0:26.8	with the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Diego Chargers.
0:29.7	One of the best to ever play the game.
0:32.1	We might not know is that he now runs a foundation called the Best Defense Foundation that
0:37.2	has a transition program for people leaving active duty from the military, has an education
0:42.4	program, and a battlefield return program.
0:45.7	And Donnie's been taking veterans of World War II back to the battlefields on which they
0:50.9	fought for a number of years.
0:52.9	And that's where his passion and his mission align today.
0:56.6	So we talk about that.
0:58.0	We talk about the NFL.
0:59.0	We talk about growing up and a bunch of other things on this podcast.
1:02.8	You can find him at Donnie, DONNI, underscore Edwards on Instagram.
1:08.4	And then you can find the Best Defense Foundation on Instagram and BestDefenseFoundation.org
1:14.6	on their website.
1:16.5	So check those out for sure.
1:18.9	And now, without further ado, my friend Donnie Edwards.
1:26.1	Your story is incredible.
1:28.1	And so what was that first spark that not necessarily that on the NFL and the athletic side of the
	...

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