Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart sounds alarm on blood shortages, why campaign hits close to home
He was a two-time national champion and Heisman Trophy winner at USC and was a first-round draft pick when he tried his luck in the NFL.
While he pushes on into the next phase of his career as a college football analyst on FOX Sports' "Big Noon Kickoff," he recently partnered with Abbott in hopes of tackling the need to address blood shortages in the U.S.
The "We Give Blood Drive" campaign is something that hit a little closer to home for Leinart.
"Gosh, my mom passed away from cancer years ago, but she needed blood transfusions," he explained to Fox News Digital in a recent interview. "We have friends that have kids who are dealing with pretty severe illnesses that needed transfusions to live, and they're gonna be OK, which is great.
"One in 83 new moms need blood after childbirth. My wife just gave birth to our third child. Fortunately, she didn't need it but when you start to sort of hear the stats around this, and then you're like, 'Oh wow, that could've been us.' It just means more. It impacts you in that way. Those are just a few examples of why it could kind of hit home."
Leinart expressed the importance of giving blood as some blood centers only have less than a day's supply of blood available.
"One donation could save up to three lives, which I just want to hammer that point home," he said. "That's how important this could be and the impact it could have."
Abbott's campaign will also pit Big Ten Conference schools against each other to see which one can donate the most blood over the course of the season. The winning school will receive $1 million to advance student and community health initiatives.
The competition will begin on "We Give Blood Day" on Aug. 27, and it will run through the Big Ten Championship Game on Dec. 6.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
Shedeur Sanders 'day-to-day' after suffering oblique strain, won't play Saturday against Eagles
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders is "day-to-day after he suffered an oblique strain during Wednesday's joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] The Browns also announced that Sanders will not practice Thursday, nor will he play Saturday when the two teams meet for a preseason game in Philadelphia. Sanders suffered the injury during warmups, according to ESPN, and underwent an MR to determine the severity. The team decided to hold Sanders out for the remainder of the session as the teams worked on 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills. He stayed on the field for the rest of practice watching the Browns go through drills with the Eagles. With Sanders out, Kenny Pickett led the first team and rookie Dillon Gabriel headed up the second team during 7-on-7 drills. Joe Flacco worked with the starters in 11-on-11 drills, while Gabriel saw most of his action with the second team. The Browns have now seen three of their quarterbacks deal with injuries throughout training camp. Pickett missed three practices with a hamstring injury before returning to the field in a limited fashion. Gabriel has also dealt with a hamstring issue and is back working in team drills for a second straight day. After practice, Sanders talked with Eagles quarterback and reigning Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts, who didn't reveal what the two discussed. Sanders started the Browns' preseason opener where he completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Carolina Panthers.
Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
Shedeur Sanders 'day-to-day' after suffering oblique strain, unlikely to play Saturday against Eagles
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders is "day-to-day after he suffered an oblique strain during Wednesday's joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] The Browns also announced that Sanders will not practice Thursday, and he is unlikely to play Saturday when the two teams meet for a preseason game in Philadelphia. Sanders suffered the injury during warmups, according to ESPN, and underwent an MR to determine the severity. The team decided to hold Sanders out for the remainder of the session as the teams worked on 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills. He stayed on the field for the rest of practice watching the Browns go through drills with the Eagles. With Sanders out, Kenny Pickett led the first team and rookie Dillon Gabriel headed up the second team during 7-on-7 drills. Joe Flacco worked with the starters in 11-on-11 drills, while Gabriel saw most of his action with the second team. The Browns have now seen three of their quarterbacks deal with injuries throughout training camp. Pickett missed three practices with a hamstring injury before returning to the field in a limited fashion. Gabriel has also dealt with a hamstring issue and is back working in team drills for a second straight day. After practice, Sanders talked with Eagles quarterback and reigning Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts, who didn't reveal what the two discussed. Sanders started the Browns' preseason opener where he completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Carolina Panthers.
Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
NFL odds: Shedeur Sanders is the most popular bet to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year
Shedeur Sanders hasn't been named the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback. In fact, there's been no concrete proof that he has moved up the depth chart at all from his spot at QB4, despite a good preseason debut. That's not stopping bettors from loading up on a fourth-string quarterback and fifth-round pick to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. The Sanders phenomenon can be exemplified in many ways, and BetMGM has its own way of quantifying it. Sanders is the most popular bet for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. As of Tuesday, 17.7% of the money bet on that award at BetMGM was on Sanders, who presumably still has to pass three other players just to start for the Browns. With bets continuing to come in on Sanders, his odds dropped this week from 30-to-1 to 25-to-1. Only eight players have shorter odds than Sanders, the 144th pick of the NFL Draft. Who doesn't have a starting job yet, or anywhere close to it. Shedeur Sanders gets bettors' attention For Sanders' start in the Browns' first preseason game, 2.237 million viewers tuned into NFL Network according to Nielsen (via Programming Insider). That's a remarkable number for practically any show, and ridiculous for an NFL preseason game on a Friday night. Sanders moves the needle like few other players, and more than any fifth-round pick in recent memory. The betting market is a reflection of that too. Only one other player, Ashton Jeanty, is getting more than 10% of the money bet on NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Jeanty is one of the best running back propsects in years and was the sixth pick of the draft. He is getting 12.4% of the money bet in that market. Cam Ward, the first pick of the draft and a locked in starting quarterback for the Tennessee Titans, has gotten 10% of the money in the OROY market. It's a lot of faith in Sanders, who might not play at all this season. Sanders still working way up depth chart Sanders' strong preseason debut will help his case for playing time, though an oblique injury suffered on Wednesday could set him back. And Sanders can't afford a setback. The Browns started camp with Joe Flacco as the starter, with Kenny Pickett as the backup and Dillon Gabriel ahead of Sanders in the battle of rookies. Pickett and Gabriel, who was drafted two rounds before Sanders, missed last week's game with hamstring injuries. Their injuries, along with rest for the veteran Flacco, was the reason Sanders got the start. Sanders took advantage of the opportunity, but he still needs to climb the depth chart and there's not a lot of time to do that before the regular season. Even Sanders himself said that he didn't want his father, Deion, coming to Browns camp yet because "I want to get to where I want to go, then for him to see me." It doesn't matter to bettors where Sanders is on the depth chart or where he was drafted. They are obviously clamoring to bet on him. If Sanders does win the Browns quarterback job, that story wouldn't lack for attention and if he plays well, voters would hear all about it. That might help push him ahead of highly drafted players like Ward, Jeanty and Tetairoa McMillan, who will have big roles from Week 1 on. Until then, Sanders bettors will be like plenty of his supporters, waiting impatiently for him to get a chance to start for Cleveland.
