Uplifting Athletes is a nonprofit organization that inspires the rare disease community with hope through the power of sport. Our national network of chapters is run by current football student-athletes.
Rare Disease Awareness
Shares the platform of sport with the rare disease cause and raises it as a national priority.
Every year during spring scrimmages and regular season games, university chapters plan numerous activities to inspire the rare disease community with hope through the power of sport. Some of our favorite examples include Uplifting Athletes branded footballs, helmet stickers, jersey patches, wristbands, and promotional videos!
Rare Disease Champion
The Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion is given annually to a leader in college football who has realized his or her potential to make a positive and lasting impact on the rare disease community.
An awareness campaign powered by Uplifting Athletes, the Rare Disease Champion is determined by college football fans and the rare disease community through online voting. The award is presented to the winner at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala in Atlantic City, NJ, and celebrated at Uplifting Athletes’ Young Investigator Draft in Philadelphia, PA.
Sculpted by world-renowned artist Brian Hanlon, the Rare Disease Champion trophy is in the likeness of Mark Herzlich, the former Boston College and current New York Giants linebacker who provided the inspiration for the award after overcoming a life-threatening battle with the rare disease Ewing’s sarcoma in 2009.
Illinois has already won more games in 2018 than it did all of last year when the Fighting Illini ran past Rutgers by 21 points on the road. The Illini are now 3-2 overall and the triumph over the Scarlet Knights ended a 13-game losing streak in the Big Ten Conference. Prior to Saturday, the […] Continue Reading »
Each week during the college football season we will feature a player who is an officer for an Uplifting Athletes Chapter for our Beyond the Trophy series. Name: Marc Nolan College: Stony Brook University Height, weight, class, position: 6-1, 210-pound senior punter High School: Blessed Trinity Catholic, Woodstock, Ga. About Nolan: Prior to this season had played in 34 games […] Continue Reading »
Undefeated Notre Dame has already handed out a pair of losses to teams ranked inside the top 20 in the country. The No. 6 ranked Fighting Irish used a rock-solid defensive effort to hand previous No. 7 ranked Stanford its first loss of the season. Notre Dame’s defense limited the Cardinal to 229 total yards […] Continue Reading »
Each week during the college football season we will feature a player who is an officer for an Uplifting Athletes Chapter for our Beyond the Trophy series. Name: Christopher Schilling College: University of Notre Dame Height, weight, class, position: 5-11, 212-pound junior safety High School: St. Thomas Aquinas, Overland Park, Kansas About Schilling: Came to Notre Dame as a highly […] Continue Reading »
Colgate had a Bicentennial Blast on Saturday as Raiders kicked off their second century celebration by drubbing Lafayette at home to improve to 3-0 on the young season. All the rage in Hamilton over the weekend to kick off Colgate’s Bicentennial festivities was the throwback uniforms the Raiders wore to honor the Colgate’s famous 1932 […] Continue Reading »
When your quarterback accounts for six touchdowns it is not easy to steal the spotlight from him. However setting a school record for touchdown receptions that has stood for nearly a quarter century qualifies as special. Princeton senior wide receiver Jesper Horsted became the all-time touchdown receptions leader for the Tigers with a trio of […] Continue Reading »
Uplifting Athletes is pleased to announce that every touchdown scored throughout October by members of our nationwide network of college football student-athlete led chapters will help support the Rare Disease Community. Clemson, Davidson, Fordham, Illinois, Lehigh, NC State, Penn, Penn State, Saint Francis, Stony Brook, Syracuse and Western Michigan, chapters have each committed to help […] Continue Reading »
Each week during the college football season we will feature a player who is an officer for an Uplifting Athletes Chapter for our Beyond the Trophy series. Name: George Hatalowich College: Davidson College Height, weight, class, position: 5-10, 210-pound junior linebacker High School: Lower Dauphin High School in Hummelstown, Pa. About Hatalowich: In two years with the Wildcats has started […] Continue Reading »
Each week during the college football season we will feature a player who is an officer for an Uplifting Athletes Chapter for our Beyond the Trophy series. Name: Peter Snodgrass College: Northwestern University Height, weight, class, position: 6-0, 205 pound redshirt sophomore long snapper High School: Palo Alto HS, Palo Alto, Calif. About Snodgrass: A highly decorated high school linebacker, […] Continue Reading »
Suffering from a bit of a hangover after pulling off an upset of Texas in its opener, Maryland found itself on the road and trailing Bowling Green at halftime. The Terps had little trouble moving the ball in the opening two quarters, but a plethora of penalties stalled Maryland drives and kept the offense from […] Continue Reading »
