Sunday Sit-down with the Every True Tiger Foundation team
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
ABC 17 Sports Director Nathalie Jones brought on the Every True Tiger Foundation team in this week's edition of Sunday Sit-down. Mizzou hoops alum Laurence Bowers, former Mizzou football player Bud Sasser and CEO of Every True Tiger Nick Garner joined her at the desk.
The four talked about how the foundation came together and what their goal is in their partnership with Mizzou Athletics.
Every True Tiger is a non-profit foundation, which started in 2022. The goal is to advance the Mizzou student-athlete expereince, while also partnering those same athletes with non-profits in the community through the use of their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).
"There's a lot of people who look at NIL and think of only dollar signs," Bowers said. "That's not our goal. Our goal is to instill desire within every athlete that we contract, to understand that, hey, this is bigger than you, this is bigger than your sport, and go out and make a difference in a world."
Sasser and Bowers both played sports at Mizzou and said that NIL would have been a game changer in their lives, back then. They said it's been long overdue for student-athletes.
"We have had guys who may not have had the opportunity to go home [in the past], who were able to go home this Christmas, guys that have been able to fix their trucks, you know, I think it's life changing," Bowers said.
The foundations emphasizes the importance of doing good in your community, whether that's in Mid-Missouri or where the student-athlete comes from. Sasser said it's important for them to do this work for Columbia and Missouri, since they live here, as well.
"I've kind of grown up here a little bit in my adult life," he said. "You want to be able to really instill those values into our student-athletes on this is what it means to give back to the community and this is what it looks like to give back to the community."
To learn more about how you can support the Every True Tiger Foundation visit there website.
The trio said that every donation made will help them further their mission by creating more community partnerships and compensating their student-athletes for their efforts.
You can watch the Sunday Sit-down with the Every True Tiger Foundation team on ABC 17 SportsZone at 9:30 on Fox 22 and 10:30 on ABC 17.
