A record-breaking year 👏
Thank you #EaglesEverywhere for supporting our @EaglesAutism community! pic.twitter.com/DQjUPoPVM1
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 20, 2023
The Saturday morning rain in Philadelphia didn’t stop the over 4,500 riders, runners, and walkers from participating in the sixth annual Eagles Autism Challenge presented by Lincoln Financial Group.
Eagles Autism Challenge was born out of Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie’s vision in 2018 – autism’s growing prevalence encouraged him to use his platform to inspire change. Since the inaugural event, Eagles Autism Foundation has raised more than $22 million for care and research – a record-breaking $6.2 million (and counting!) came from this year alone and donations through the end of May will increase those totals.
“We created this as our philanthropic priority off the field and with Jeffrey’s vision and support, we don’t have an identity crisis,” said Executive Director of the Eagles Autism Foundation Ryan Hammond.
“We know what we’re doing. We’re taking this responsibility for the now 1 in 36 people affected by autism. This is a meaningful connection to our team on every level – we have more than 25,000 donors this season.”
The event featured the Wawa Classic 30-Mile and Wawa Shorti 10-mile bike rides, the FreedomPay 5k run and Sensory Walk.
A.J. Brown had the biggest scare of the day when a speeding car nearly hit Philadelphia’s All-Pro wide receiver while approaching a stop sign.
Here are highlights and photos of the event.
A.J. Brown
✌️🫶 & EAC@eaglesautism | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/JDk4ETTHhk
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 20, 2023
Jason Kelce
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 20, 2023
Nakobe Dean
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 20, 2023
A.J. Brown
Get ready to pedal@lincolnfingroup | @eaglesautism | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/lB1gauLdzu
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 20, 2023
Jason Kelce
Startin' it off with 30 miles 🚴@lincolnfingroup | @eaglesautism | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/0yHr52sw95
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 20, 2023
DeVonta Smith
Awareness to action
Today, we kickoff the 6th Eagles Autism Challenge 🙌 @eaglesautism | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/CYHgQKFiJE
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 20, 2023
Kickoff party
Kickoff Party ✅
Eagles Autism Challenge 🔜We had a wonderful night with members of our EAF community, celebrating the start to an impactful weekend. pic.twitter.com/pEcv5aVHOa
— Eagles Autism Foundation (@eaglesautism) May 20, 2023
Eagles
Walking/running while making a difference in the autism community🤩 #EaglesAutismChallenge2023 pic.twitter.com/c6Wz06kx7X
— Eagles Autism Foundation (@eaglesautism) May 20, 2023
Eagles
1️⃣0️⃣-Mile Bike Ride led by dozens of our players! pic.twitter.com/LHJvvWl1Vp
— Eagles Autism Foundation (@eaglesautism) May 20, 2023
Rob Keustner NBC 10
Rolling through the 5K with Nick Sirianni only @NBCPhiladelphia. See it in full tomorrow Philly Live Sports Edition. pic.twitter.com/cQaFYTQX7f
— rob kuestner (@rkuestnernbc10) May 20, 2023
A.J. Brown
The Eagles All-Pro was nearly hit by a car running a stop sign, but he only dropped his phone.
I’m fine everyone lol. Someone ran the stop sign😡 . I didn’t fall off my bike, I just dropped my phone and got out of the way . Stay safe everyone 👍🏽
— AJ Brown (@1kalwaysopen_) May 20, 2023
JH
WTF THE DRIVER THAT ALMOST AJ BROWN BLAMED HIM FOR NOT PAYING ATTENTION WHEN THE DRIVER LITERALLY RAN A STOP SIGN… pic.twitter.com/Kihi1LSSGX
— JH♟️ (@SecretaryHurts) May 20, 2023