For Browns' Denzel Ward, helping less fortunate during coronavirus pandemic is personal

The foundation that Denzel Ward established after reaching the NFL as a first-round pick with his hometown Cleveland Browns is dubbed Make Them Know Your Name (MTKYN). The term is a tribute to Ward’s late father, Paul, who repeated that inspirational mantra as his son emerged as a star athlete.

Given the tragedy of Paul’s death in 2016 of cardiac arrest, it’s fitting to see on MTKYN's website that it is a heart health foundation.

It’s also evident by Ward’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and its ripple effects, that there are myriad ways to measure heart health.

Ward showed it in a different way when he announced plans last week to provide relief for 21 service workers and small business owners who have lost their livelihoods due to the crisis. He’s pledged to pay the biggest monthly expense – that’s mortgage, rent, groceries, medical bill, whatever – for 21 Clevelanders in need of assistance.

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“This pandemic has touched me a lot, seeing people affected by this,” Ward told USA TODAY Sports. “It was so unexpected. It caught people by surprise. That’s why I wanted to take a load off their back.”

Ward settled on 21 because it matched his uniform number, but there is hardly a limit on people in dire straits — particularly those in occupations and with businesses vulnerable to economic fallout.

During the first two days after Ward’s offer to help, more than 1,000 applications were submitted through MTKYN’s website.

Ward, 22, and other members of his foundation’s team have split up the duty of meticulously reviewing the applications and processing the hardship.

"It’s humbling,” said Ward, who has made about $12 million in his career. “We’ll try to help as many people as we can.”

Ward’s sense of duty underscores a moral responsibility that you’d hope we all could support. The message blares on MTKYN’s website: “We’re all in this together.”

The latest national unemployment figures, released Thursday, showed a record 6.6 million Americans filed for benefits, shattering the mark of 3.3 million claims the previous week. And for many in communities that are already underserved and economically stressed, the statistics only begin to measure the toll on human lives. Financial help in a timely fashion could equate to basics that many might take for granted – like keeping the lights on or eating the next hot meal.

Ward sought to do more than merely write a check (and, hey, you can do that, too, with so many food banks across the nation running low on necessities, for example) when he brainstormed on a conference call with board members from his foundation.

“I wanted it to be more personal,” he said.

Although he doesn’t deem it appropriate to share details of the individual submissions, Ward allowed that it has been gut-wrenching to learn about specific examples in an environment where people have suddenly lost jobs or suffered other setbacks.

“A lot of hard-working people,” Ward said when asked about the types of people seeking support. “People who were doing just fine before this happened, now all of a sudden they are going through some tough times. We’re trying to figure out who needs it the most.”

Ward’s hands-on approach, while he adheres to Ohio’s stay-at-home mandate and follows CDC guidelines for social distancing and other prevention measures, is one of many inspiring gestures coming from the NFL community in recent days. It has been encouraging to see the spirit of giving back demonstrated by players and teams, including support to food banks, cash donations to relief organizations, and in the case of the New England Patriots, donating the team’s jet for a humanitarian mission to retrieve more than 1 million N95 medical masks from China.

It was a no-brainer, Ward said, to gear his efforts for local impact. He grew up in the suburb of Bedford, about a 30-minute drive from FirstEnergy Stadium in downtown Cleveland. After starring to Nordonia High School in Macedonia, he earned All-America honors at Ohio State. The Browns drafted him fourth overall in 2018, leading to a Pro Bowl nod as a rookie. 

As much potential as Ward has, he’s showing much more about the substance of the name he’s making with his community service. Call it, too, a matter of learning by example.

“My dad was always in the community, giving back,” Ward said.

Paul Ward, Jr. was a school principal in Bedford, while his wife Nicole specialized in marketing for The Cleveland Clinic. Ward remembers that from an early age his parents involved him and his brother in charitable projects on a regular basis.

“They took us to the Salvation Army a lot,” he said. “We would give meals to the less fortunate. I just knew I always had to do something to help others.”

It’s obvious that Ward’s sensitivity isn’t waning.

“This is the perfect opportunity to help,” Ward said.