University of Memphis Athletics
Tiger Football Spreads Holiday Cheer at Gardenview Elementary
Dec 20, 2019 | Football
The University of Memphis football team has been busy, even with fall classes complete and with some Tigers having crossed the stage last weekend at commencement.Â
Throughout the day on Monday, players found their way to the new dining area in the Billy J Murphy Complex and volunteered to write 350 holiday cards for the students at Gardenview Elementary School.Â
But a holiday card by itself seemed insufficient in the eyes of some of the Tigers, who remembered holidays in their past didn't routinely involve gifts.Â
"It just started as a basic have the guys write holiday cards," said Steven Mizell, Director of Player Relations for the Tigers. "But the guys said you know what, let's do a little bit more. Let's try to get every kid a toy, not just a holiday card."
So Mizell approached Tiger Sports Properties, the Learfield group that handles Tigers' corporate sponsorships, and asked for some help.
"I just connected with Tiger Sports Properties and they felt Crye-Leike would be a good partner to approach," Mizell said. "We shared our vision with Crye-Leike and they were all on board.  The craziest thing about this is all of this came together in about three weeks, but it just shows the passion for the City of Memphis, and for this time in the season. It was really special for Crye-Leike to jump into this partnership."
In addition to distributing holiday gifts, Tiger players hustled to every classroom at Gardenview and read books to the students as part of Shelby County Schools' Commit to Literacy and Third Grade Commitment program. Memphis football has been involved with the program all season, recording videos of players reading books that SCS posts on its Facebook page.Â
"It's very important for our players to be involved in the community," Mizell said. "It's very exciting to be going to the Cotton Bowl, but at the end of the day, they're going to be in a hotel for Christmas. But their being able to pour into this community and see the joy on these kids faces, that's what's going to help them when they're going through their homesickness or being away from home during the holidays. It's very important for them to give back and use this season as platform to show the city of Memphis how much it means to them."Â
Senior running back Patrick Taylor, who completed his college degree on Sunday at commencement festivities, echoed Mizell's thoughts.
"This just puts a smile on my face and the kids' faces," Taylor said. "It brings me happiness to be able to serve like we were serving here. Young kids look up to us and when they see us doing good things and giving back to the community, it brings them happiness and joy."
The SCS Third Grade Commitment program is program that ensures that students have the necessary reading skills necessary to be successful in school. Studies have found that if students are not reading at grade level by Grade 3, half of the curriculum taught for the remainder of their school careers will be incomprehensible.  For more information on the program, click http://scsk12.org/commitment/.
Memphis continues preparations for the Goodyear Cotton Bowl for the remainder of this week before departing for Dallas on Sunday. Â
Tickets for the game, which kicks at 11:05 a.m. CT on December 28, are on sale now at www.GoTigersGoTix.com. A schedule of fan events is available at www.GoTigersGo.com/Bowl.
