Executive Committee

After serving as a Player Representative and an alternate Player Rep for four years, Drew Brees (QB) was elected to his first term on the Executive Committee in 2008.

Brees was selected by the San Diego Chargers as the first pick of the second round in the 2001 NFL Draft and signed with the New Orleans Saints in 2006. In 2008, Brees threw for 5,069 yards and fell just 15 yards short of breaking Dan Marino’s NFL record for passing yards thrown in a single season. A three-time Pro Bowl selection, he became only the second quarterback in NFL history to throw for 5,000 yards in a single season and for his efforts, Brees was awarded the AP 2008 Offensive Player of the Year award.

In 2003, Brees and his wife Brittany established The Brees Dream Foundation, which seeks to provide care, education, and opportunities for children facing adversities. Since its inception, Brees and his foundation have donated funds and contributed to several organizations, including the Rady Children’s Hospital, The Painted Turtle Camps, Emilio Nares Foundation, Friends of Scott Foundation, HDSA, NYSP Camps and the American Cancer Society. Aside from the foundation, Brees is also actively involved in the New Orleans community. He was motivated to buy and renovate a house in the city after the Hurricane Katrina destruction, and he donates his time and resources to charities aligned with the reconstruction of New Orleans. The NFL recognized his outstanding volunteer and charity work in 2006 by naming him Co-Walter Payton Man of the Year.

Brees was drafted out of Purdue, where he placed fourth and third in 1999 and 2000, respectively, in Heisman Trophy voting. He holds a degree in industrial management and currently resides in New Orleans with his wife.

Kevin Carter (DE) has been a Player Representative and alternate Player Rep for seven years with three different teams during his NFL career. He has served on the Executive Committee for three years.

A first-round draft pick, Carter has played in and started nearly every game since his NFL career began with the St. Louis Rams in 1995. He played a pivotal role in the Rams’ Super Bowl XXXIV victory before being traded to the Titans in 2001. At the end of the 2004 season, Carter signed with the Miami Dolphins for two seasons, then with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2007.  

 A born leader, Carter is extremely active in community endeavors. In 2002, he and his wife established the Kevin Carter Foundation in an effort to enrich the lives of children, focusing on youth and character development. For six years, Carter has hosted the “Waiting for Wishes” celebrity dinner and reception, where he and his teammates, along with celebrities from the entertainment and music world, come together to serve as waiters and waitresses for dinner attendees. The annual dinner has generated thousands of dollars for both the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Kevin Carter Foundation.

A native Floridian, Carter graduated from the University of Florida and created the Kevin Carter Football Endowment in 1998 to provide scholarships to deserving college athletes. He was inducted into the University of Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. Carter currently lives in Florida with his wife Shima and their son.

During his NFL career, Donovin Darius (SS) was a Player Representative for five years and has served three years on the Executive Committee.

Darius joined the Jaguars as the 25^th overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft and played consistently for the same franchise for nine seasons. In 2004, he led the team’s secondary in tackles for the seventh consecutive season and became the leading season tackler in Jaguar history with 790 tackles.

Darius established the Donovin Darius Children’s Foundation to focus his efforts on serving youth, and hosts a free “Sharpen Your Skills” football camp to help local kids improve their skills. He volunteers annually with Jacksonville’s Communities in Schools program, talking to students about the important decisions they will face as teenagers and adults. As a result of his on-going community involvement,  Darius was named the 2001 Community Leader of the Year, the 2002 winner of the NFL Extra Effort Award, and the recipient of the Jaguars/Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Community Champions Award.

Darius attended Syracuse University, where, in addition to earning football honors, he was a hurdler for the track team. He graduated with a degree in exercise science and a minor in coaching. Darius lives in Florida with his wife Almnesh and their four children.

A seven-time Pro Bowl selection, Brian Dawkins (FS) was a Player Representative for seven years and has served as a member of the Executive Committee for three years.

Dawkins, a second-round draft choice for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1996, set many club and League records in his 13 seasons with the Eagles. He is the first player in NFL history to record a sack, interception, fumble recovery and touchdown reception in a single game; is currently the franchise leader with 96 career wins, including eight playoff victories; and holds the record for playing in a franchise-record 15 playoff games. Dawkins also ranks third on the team’s all-time games-played list and second on the Eagles’ all-time list in playoff interceptions (4) and playoff interception return yards (75). In March of 2009, Dawkins signed with the Denver broncos as an unrestricted free agent.

Selected by his teammates in 2005 as the Eagles’ Man of the Year for his charitable work, Dawkins is the regional spokesman for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and partners with Turkey Hill Diary to raise funds for the organization. The Lancaster-based dairy donated $500 to JDRF for every interception made by Dawkins in 2007, which totaled $5,500 for 11 interceptions. Dawkins is also part of the Home Depot NFL Neighborhood MVP program, which recognizes players who are making a positive impact in their local communities.

Dawkins majored in education at Clemson University in South Carolina, where he was a second team All-American selection and named the first-team strong safety on Clemson's all-centennial team in 1995. Dawkins and his wife Connie have four children.

Domonique Foxworth (CB) is serving his first term on the Executive Committee after being elected as an alternate Player Representative last year.

The Denver Broncos selected him as their third-round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. During his three seasons with the Broncos, Foxworth compiled 173 tackles and three interceptions, and forced two fumbles with 24 deflected passes in 46 games. Foxworth signed with the Atlanta Falcons for the 2008 season and later joined the Baltimore Ravens in February 2009.

Despite being one of the young guys in the league, Foxworth has made sure to take time to give back to his surrounding communities. In 2007, Foxworth initiated the drive to honor slain teammate Darrent Williams by building a memorial teen center at the Boys and Girls Club in the Montbello neighborhood of Denver. He also went a step further and taught a writing course at the club in an effort to encourage college attendance. As a result of his commitment, the Denver Broncos honored Foxworth as their Walter Payton Man of the Year.

Foxworth attended the University of Maryland and was twice named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team.

A dynamic force on the Tennessee Titans' offensive line, Kevin Mawae (C) is a 15-year NFL veteran who is currently serving his first two-year term as NFLPA President. Mawae has served on the NFLPA's Executive Committee since 2002 and was a Player Representative for five seasons.

Mawae was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in 1994 and later signed with the New York Jets in 1998, where he was named to his first Pro-Bowl after his second season with the team. In 2006, he joined the Titans and was instrumental in helping the rush offense rank third in AFC and fifth in the NFL with 2,214 yards. He was recently named to his seventh Pro Bowl following the 2008 season.

Mawae has a strong passion for both the game of football and the community in which he lives. In Seattle, Mawae participated in "Building Blocks for Kids" in Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland. He continued his work with the hospital throughout his tenure in New York and Tennessee. In 2005, Mawae won the Jets' Marty Lyons Award for Community Service and the Man of the Year Award for the second time. He spent countless hours in his home state of Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, quickly organizing a food and supplies drive to benefit Feed the Children. During his Pro Bowl visits to Hawaii, Mawae makes it a priority to visit military personnel and their families, speaking twice at a military prayer breakfast and watching Super Bowl XXXVII on board a battleship with its crewmen. In addition to his community outreach with the Titans, Mawae is actively involved in Christian ministries with his family.

During his collegiate career at Louisiana State University, Mawae played three different positions on the offensive line and was named to either the first or second All-SEC team each year. He and his wife Traci live in Franklin, Tenn., with their two children.

Keenan McCardell (WR) has served as both a Player Representative and an alternate Player Rep for eight years until he was elected to the Executive Committee in 2004.

McCardell was selected by the Washington Redskins in the 12^th round of the 1991 NFL Draft. A two-time Super Bowl Champion (he was a member of the Redskins’ Super Bowl XXVI championship team and went on to play a pivotal role in the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s Super Bowl XXXVII victory), McCardell surpassed 10,000 receiving yards for his career in 2005 with the San Diego Chargers, becoming only the 13^th player in NFL history to exceed the 10,000 yard mark and record 800 receptions.

In addition to McCardell’s leadership on the gridiron, he has been actively involved in a variety of community initiatives off the field. McCardell established the Touching Hands Foundation in 1998 to sponsor a breast cancer research initiative with Baptist Regional Center Institute in Jacksonville. While playing for the Jags, McCardell annually pledged $100 per reception and $500 per touchdown as part of the program. He has supported various other organizations, including the Hope Lodge, a center for cancer patients; the Prostate Cancer Education Council (PCEC); and University Community Hospital in Tampa. In addition to working with these organizations, McCardell has hosted golf tournaments to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, sponsored fundraisers for the Children’s Home Society in Jacksonville and organized charity basketball games to benefit the Northeast Florida Boys and Girls Club. McCardell was the recipient of the 2000 Jaguars’ Walter Payton/NFL Man of the Year award and was named the 2003 People’s Champion Award by the Tampa Tribune. He was also named one of the “Good Guys in Sports” by Sporting News that year.

McCardell played football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He and his wife Nicole live in Texas with their four children.

Tony Richardson (FB) has been a Player Representative with three different teams for 11 years and has served on the Executive Committee since 2006.

A 15-year NFL veteran, Richardson entered the NFL in 1994 as a rookie free agent with the Dallas Cowboys, but later signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. During his 11-year tenure with the Chiefs, Richardson earned back-to-back trips to the Pro-Bowl and was named to USA Today's "All-Joe Team" in 2000 and 2001. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2006 and later joined the New York Jets in 2008.

Richardson has consistently been recognized for his achievements on and off the field. In 2000, he established the "Rich in Spirit" Foundation, which benefits several organizations throughout the year, including Special Olympics, Athletes in Action, the City Union Mission, and others. In 2002, he started the Dictionary Project, which enabled him to donate thousands of dollars to ensure every child within the four surrounding metro-Kansas City counties would have a dictionary. That same year, he was recognized by Pop Warner Football as the top role model for youths, by the Chiefs as their Walter Payton Man of the Year and by The Sporting News as one of the "Good Guys in Sports." In 2003, he was named the Arthur S. Arkush Humanitarian of the Year by Pro Football Weekly. When the devastating tsunamis hit Sri Lanka in 2004, Richardson stepped up to become a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations World Food Program in order to assist in tsunami relief missions around the world.

Richardson has a bachelor's degree in education from Auburn and an MBA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he took classes during the football seasons.

Jeff Saturday (C) has been a Player Representative for the Colts since 2002 and has served on the NFLPA Executive Committee since 2006.

He then joined the Indianapolis Colts in January 1999 and has been with the team ever since.

Saturday has been a dominant force on the Colts offensive line over the last ten seasons. He started in 140 of 149 career appearances and has played in 106 career wins with the Colts. Saturday earned Pro Bowl honors following the 2005 season, and again in 2006 and 2007, starting in both games. Saturday also played a pivotal role in the Colts’ Super Bowl XLI victory over the Chicago Bears in 2007.

Saturday is a champion off the gridiron as well and has been a spokesman for Miracle Ride, a fundraiser for Riley Hospital for Children in Indiana, since 2004. He is also an active spokesman for the People's Burn Foundation of Indiana and the Kids’ Voice of Indiana, an advocacy group for children, where he serves on the board. Saturday and his wife Karen are honorary chairs for Susan G. Komen for the Cure and have supported the organization since 2004.

Saturday earned a degree in business at the University of North Carolina. He and his wife live in Indianapolis with their three children.

Mike Vrabel (LB) has been a Player Representative for nine years and is currently serving his first term on the Executive Committee.

Vrabel was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft and spent the last eight seasons with the New England Patriots. In 2006, Vrabel served as a captain on a Patriots defense that set a franchise record by allowing just 14.81 points per game and 237 points over the course of the season, the fewest by any Patriots club over a 16-game season. He was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in late February of 2009.

Aside from football, Vrabel helped co-found The 2^nd & 7 Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps promote literacy worldwide. Each week during the year, the foundation travels with various student athletes from The Ohio State University to different elementary schools in Columbus to read to second grade classes. The organization also hosts several charitable events, including an annual celebrity pool tournament and an annual football camp for kids ages 8-14.

While playing football at Ohio State, Vrabel set team career records with 36 quarterback sacks and 66 tackles for losses. Vrabel and his wife Jen have two sons.