Cliff Avril didn’t fully realize the impact until after he retired, officially, in 2019. He didn’t see how deeply one era of Seahawks football bonded the team with its city, how the Legion of Boom and a Super Bowl title made his efforts outside of football not only possible but optimal. How the combination of all that made his voice impactful and important.
Avril arrived in Seattle in 2013, after five seasons in Detroit. Michael Bennett, the Seahawks’ resident locker room philosopher, became his best friend. As Colin Kaepernick knelt and the fight against social injustice exploded, Avril, Bennett and their close friend, Pro Bowl wideout Doug Baldwin, all redoubled their off-field efforts. Police officers needed more training. Children needed more resources. Most, in an increasingly divided world, needed joy.
By 2017, the trio agreed on the difference between a mob and a movement: follow through. Their community involvement did not end when their playing careers did. Instead, they have some news. Big news, they believe. No, none of them plan to return to Lumen Field, at least not in uniform. But they did form a philanthropic organization, Champions of Change, and they all will display what remains of their athleticism in the city where they starred. In late June, the trio will hold a series of fundraising events designed to raise money for local, grassroots nonprofits—the kind of organizations they partnered with while playing for the Seahawks.
