The rivalry between George Brett and Reggie Jackson was legendary. But a bond formed between the two Hall of Famers when Brett was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999. The two former rivals put their differences aside and became friends, and Brett was recently invited to participate in the star-studded Mr. October Foundation Celebrity Golf Classic hosted by Jackson.
The golf tournament was held at the Floridian National Golf Club and was attended by a slew of celebrities from the sports and entertainment world. Brett was joined by fellow Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell, Mike Schmidt, Ozzie Smith, Derek Jeter, and Ken Griffey Jr., plus entertainers Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Travis Scott, NFL Hall of Famers Marcus Allen, Jerome Bettis, Richard Dent, Marshall Faulk, Warren Moon, Joe Namath and Terrell Owens, and current Astros players Kyle Tucker, Lance McCullers Jr., Michael Brantley and Jeremy Peña.
The tournament was held to raise money for Jackson’s “Mr. October STEM 101 program,” which provides 21st-century STEM career-minded curriculum, physical and electronic resources, as well as professional development, to prepare students for STEM jobs in the trades, engineering, manufacturing, and medical fields. Last year, Jackson’s tournament raised more than $600,000 for STEM programming in schools located in Oakland, St. Louis, Detroit, and the Bronx. The hope for this year’s tournament was to raise more than $1 million to benefit programs in Houston, Pittsburgh and West Palm Beach, Fla.
Brett was humbled to be able to participate in the tournament and represent Jackson’s cause. “There’s not many people I would get up at 4 in the morning in Phoenix, Ariz., and fly to Dallas, and then fly here and play golf [for], but I would definitely do it for Reggie,” Brett said. Jeter, who captained the Bronx Bombers to four World Series championships in five seasons from 1996-2000, echoed Brett’s sentiment, “The athletic community seems to rally around each other, and Reggie deserves a lot of credit.”
50 Cent was also in attendance and said, “It brings so much joy and smiles to my heart, yet tears at the same time. Tears of joy just being overwhelmed and recognizing that and to be grateful for the people that have showed up here to be able to give support to our youth.”
Schmidt summed it up nicely, “It’s important that we all use our platform for being athletes, entertainers, what have you, to help those people in need. Reggie is a fine example of a guy that uses his and for a long time, he’s been doing that. He’s a good friend. Any time I can help him, I’m glad to do that.”
The Mr. October Foundation Celebrity Golf Classic was a success, bringing together former rivals and friends to support Jackson’s cause. The tournament was a testament to the power of friendship and the strength of the athletic community.
Source: www.mlb.com