Adrian Amos is still here and he’s making a impact on Green Bay and in Baltimore

Adrian Amos knew that to make an impact, he’d have to attack multiple fronts.

Much like how he plays football where he is both gifted in run defense as well as defending the pass, Amos felt in his heart that the best way to help his community was to have a foundation that could help multiple causes at once.

Through the Adrian Amos I’m Still Here Foundation, the Packers safety is doing just that. Through his foundation, Amos is focused on two causes: helping and bringing awareness to underprivileged kids in urban cities as well as families that have been impacted by Alzheimer’s disease.

Amos says that the two-pronged approach is all by design. “When I started this foundation, I was originally going to choose one of the two to focus on, but my heart and love for both would not let me separate the two,” Amos says on his foundation’s Facebook page. “So, we found a way to support and focus on both.”

For the focus on underprivileged youth, Amos has been active in both Green Bay and his hometown of Baltimore, MD. During this past holiday season, Amos and his foundation surprised Green Bay youth with the local Boys and Girls Club by taking them on a surprise shopping spree in December at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

In August, just as the school year was getting started, Amos and I’m Still Here donated backpacks and school supplies to The Club at Collington Square, an after-school and summer program that supports education for children in East Baltimore.

For Amos, helping out in the community, especially children, is the best way to reciprocate what his professional football career has provided him.

“What person would I be if I didn’t do what I could to provide a better life for others?”, he said on his foundation’s Facebook page. “I am blessed to be a member of the NFL… but I am even more blessed to be able to use what I earned in order to make the world a little better place whether through our work with Alzheimer’s patients or the youth.”

It is that work with people with Alzheimer’s that is truly personal to Amos. His grandmother Geraldine Thompson was suffering from the disease when she passed away in June 2020. Amos told CBS 58 in Milwaukee last year he would not be where he is without his grandma, saying she is the one that “instilled that work ethic in my family. That’s something that sticks with me to this day.”

In memory of his grandmother, Amos pledged $1,000 per tackle during the 2020 season to the Wisconsin Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and finished the year with 83 tackles. That means $83,000 was raised for Wisconsin Alzheimer’s patients. Talk about making an impact both on and off the field.

I’m Still Here also sold Packers-colored End Alzheimer’s shirts that raised an additional $40,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association, which combined with Amos’ contribution equaled $123,000. That just further showed when Packers fans and Packers players come together, they can change the community they share.

That partnership went even further just last month when The Power Sweep, a Packers news site run by APC’s own Jon Meerdink, spearheaded fundraisers for not just Amos’ foundation but also charities supported by Aaron Jones and Shemar Jean-Charles. The effort raised over $6,000 for the three charities, of which $1575 went to I’m Still Here, according to Meerdink.

Amos has been a revelation at the safety position since he arrived in Green Bay in 2019 and his work has elevated him to one of the best safeties in the game, even if he is still underrated. For his part, Amos knows he didn’t arrive in this spot by himself and if he can help someone else get where they want to go or make someone dealing with Alzheimer’s life a little easier, he has a responsibility to do something about it.

“I think with what I’ve been blessed with it’s important to be a blessing to others. My family instilled faith in me. And just sharing because I didn’t get to where I am by myself,” Amos told CBS 58 last year. “I had a helping hand (sic) and I have that ability to help others.”

Amos created his foundation not soon after he arrived in Green Bay and that I’m Still Here serves not only the community he plays in but also his hometown of Baltimore shows he has not forgotten where he comes from and much like how he serves two causes, he clearly couldn’t pick just one city. Both hold special places in Amos’ heart, a heart that has shown no limit on how much love it can hold.

It is well documented that the Packers face some tough roster decisions this offseason to get under the salary cap and some talented players may be let go. In Amos’ circumstance, he shouldn’t be a release candidate and there is a very strong argument to be made that he should receive an extension. Amos has been rock solid on the field and off of it as we have seen.

From a football standpoint, keeping him around is a no-brainer and given the kind of role model he has been in the three years he has been with the Packers, Amos deserves another contract and to remain in Green Bay long term.

If that should happen “I’m Still Here” wouldn’t be just the name of his foundation but it would be the mantra for Amos as a player as well. Green Bay the city and Green Bay the football franchise would be well served on and off the field as well as in Baltimore.

For Amos’ part, it would allow him to continue to build his legacy and that goes beyond just tackles and interceptions. It’s all about helping people, both those in need and those dealing with Alzheimer’s.

From his foundation’s Facebook page: “My passion for philanthropy has always been on two things, how we can best serve the youth in communities that do not have lot of resources and the elderly, but especially those who suffer from Alzheimer’s and dementia, just like my grandmother did.”

Even though his grandmother is gone, she should be proud of the man her grandson is. Packers fans and the people in Baltimore sure are.

Adrian Amos is still here and, hopefully, he will be for a very long time.