“The United Way of New York City is important for us, improving the lives and children in our communities,” Phillips said at the gala. “And I haven’t even been here a full year yet, but I feel like this is part of my community.
“It was a baptism by fire. I was traded here right before the season started, having been four years in another organization where it kind of felt like home. My wife had just had our first child. He was 3 months old. We had our home. I was a team captain on another team, and overnight, hey, you got to move, leave life and family and go to this new place. And it made the transition so much easier –how special the community here was. My teammates, included in this whole New Jersey, New York, New York City area.”
Phillips, a native of Omaha, NE, was a three-time nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2020, 2021, and 2023. His approach to philanthropy began when he was in sixth grade and entered the lunchroom at school to discover all the seats among his fellow football players were taken. He then took a seat with some children who had been bullied because they were in special education classes.
“The principal came over, and the assistant principal came over, they thought I was going do a joke or do something rude,” he told a Minnesota website. “But I was just sitting down wanting to meet some new people and make some new friends, and some of those guys are still good friends of mine to this day.”
He added: “I always stood up to bullying when we were younger in elementary school and middle school and tried to find the lost sheep, so to speak.”
Since coming to the Jets, Phillips has immersed himself in the local community as he followed and supported the Jets’ deep commitment to girls’ flag football, attending events and offering advice.
“It was cool to see people who have a heart to give,” he said on Tuesday night. “And I didn’t know that. I thought I was coming to Gotham City, and so I had no idea, you know, how much love and support was here and when I got here, because at the time, it’s kind of like a hey, a wife thing.”
He added: “Why this one means a lot to me is because you guys understand that you give back and invest in other communities, and you help empower other organizations and other people, and you understand that change happens when you equip these other people and equip these other organizations to serve where they need it most. And that mindset has stuck with me, and funny enough, been a huge part of my organization. Harrison’s Playmakers, which you saw a little bit about, works with individuals with Down syndrome and autism and the hard of hearing and visually impaired.
“We work. We say our heart is unbiased. We will work with anyone. And what we try to instill in this overlooked population that maybe some of you guys don’t have a touch point with, but there could be a negative, incorrect perception that these individuals can’t do things. I think the best way that we flip that perception is to say they’re so independent that they’re actually going to go out and serve in the communities. And so we’ll partner, just like United Way does, with other nonprofits that need a helping hand.”