Here’s a tearjerker for the high school football crowd, thanks to Steve Lyttle at the Charlotte Observer.
Jack Mowrey is the long snapper for Ardrey Kell (N.C.) in Charlotte. This season he’s doing something special with every snap he takes – raising money for David Kunz, who had been his best friend and teammate before dying of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma last summer.
Kunz was first diagnosed in January, 2020 when doctors in Florida discovered a lump on his neck. He went through several rounds of radiation and chemotherapy and appeared to have beaten it – ringing the bell in May of that year. Sadly, Kunz suffered a relapse that puzzled his doctors. He died on Aug. 6, 2021.
Mowrey couldn’t be with Kunz at the end and played last season with his name on his wristband. This year, Mowrey is going one further after getting an idea to raise money for cancer research, per the Observer.
He read about Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, started in 2005 by the parents of cancer victim Alexandra (“Alex”) Scott. The foundation serves as a clearing house for various efforts to raise money for cancer research. Mowrey got an idea — get pledges for every long snap he takes this season. The result was Snap It With Jack For David Kunz. People can pledge money for every snap Mowrey makes this season, or pledge a flat fee. Mowrey hoped to raise $1,500.
Mowrey says he raised $348 in his first game.
(Per the Charlotte Observer, people looking to make a pledge to Snap It With Jack For David Kunz can do so here.)