The National Football League and the NFL Players Association will contribute $1 million to three memorials and two charities related to the events of September 11, 2001, it was announced Tuesday. The two groups also said they would donate all proceeds from the sale of items at NFL Auctions from games played on Sunday, Sept. 11.
The first Sunday of the NFL regular season falls on the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001.
The NFL and NFLPA will contribute $500,000 to the 9/11 Museum & Memorial in Lower Manhattan, and $250,000 to be divided between the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa., and the Pentagon Memorial Fund in Washington, D.C.
The auction items, which fans can bid on at www.NFL.com/Auction, will include game-worn autographed player jerseys, coaches and player hats, and commemorative game coins used during those games. Among the first items to be auctioned are kickoff footballs fr
om each stadium (Update: One had attracted a high bid of $1005 as of late Sunday night, 9/11/11).
NFL Auction proceeds will be divided equally between Tuesday’s Children and MyGoodDeed. Tuesday’s Children is a leading organization providing support and services to those who lost a loved one on 9/11, as well as to rescue and recovery workers who responded to the events. As the principle organizer of the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, MyGoodDeed is providing a positive, forward-looking way for Americans to honor and remember 9/11 victims, survivors, and first-responders.
NFL Auction proceeds from Sept. 11, 2011 are expected to total at least $250,000. Including the $750,000 in charitable donations to the national 9/11 memorials, total NFL-NFLPA donations will reach $1 million.
The NFL-NFLPA contributions complement donations made to the 9/11 Museum and Memorial by the New York Giants through the Tisch Family Foundation and the New York Jets.
