New York Giants Partner with NYPD to Bring Fun and Football to Students in Harlem

While the new NFL season gets underway, the New York Giants have partnered with the New York City Police Department to bring a little fun and football to the students of PS 175 in Harlem.

“Extra” was on the field as star quarterback Daniel Jones, safety Julian Love and linebacker Tae Crowder threw passes, ran drills, and played football with the kids. Jones tells us, “It’s a lot of fun just feeling the excitement and energy from the kids and being able to get out and play around a bit, so it’s been a lot of fun.”

For Love, he stated that playing against the students was a little tougher than facing his normal opponents. “I grabbed somebody’s flag earlier, a young kid, and he said that was luck. I said, ‘Dude, I’m a pro, like, what?’ and he said, ‘No, you’re not,’ and I’m like, ‘Whoa.’ It got real out here really fast and so I told the kid, ‘You got tons of confidence — you got to keep that for sure.’”

Joined by the New York Giants team president, CEO and co-owner John Mara, giving back to the community was on top of their list as the players enjoyed a day off from training. Jones said he enjoyed seeing the kids beaming with joy. “That’s the, you know, reason you do it — you get to come out here and get to connect with kids and hopefully you do something for them. But it definitely does something for us to be able to meet them and, you know, share those moments, see the kids out in the community, and understand what they’re going through in their lives and seeing if you can help them. But they’re definitely helping us, so it’s been pretty good.”

The NYPD Neighborhood Coordination School Initiative in collaboration with NFL Play 60 focuses on youth health and wellness, offers students resources to get physically active, and builds a safer city and community. Sgt. Charles Brown says, “It’s fantastic. Play 60’s event with the New York Giants and the NYPD, we’ve put a lot of effort into this… Harlem has been looking for programs like this to mend the relationship between the police and the community, and I think this is a brilliant idea.”