CHARLOTTE – Greg Olsen’s good deeds continued on Friday night, as he and his mother teamed up to raise more than $100,000 for local breast cancer research.
The Panthers tight end, and his mother Susan, helped to host the first annual Speak PINK event at the Ritz Carlton in Uptown.
Susan is a 17-year breast cancer survivor.
The event drew over 250 people, and was hosted by Carolinas HealthCare Foundation, and sponsored by Charlotte Radiology.

The money will go towards local breast cancer programs and to research at Levine Cancer Institute.
There’s a reason my mom is still here 17 years later,” Greg Olsen added. “There’s a reason there are survivors scattered throughout this room. That hasn’t always been the case. That’s because of advances made by doctors and researchers and philanthropists who have given of their time, energy, and resources. These events are what spearhead these doctors for doing incredible things.”
For more information about Speak PINK, visit www.givecarolinas.org/speakpink

Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen and his mother teamed up this weekend to raise $100,000 for breast cancer research. The pair hosted the first annual Speak PINK event at the Ritz Carlton in Charlotte.

The event drew 250 people and was hosted by Carolinas HealthCare Foundation. The presence of Olsen’s mother is especially awesome. She’s a 17-year survivor of breast cancer herself.

“There’s a reason my mom is still here 17 years later,” the tight end said, via WCNC in Charlotte. “There’s a reason there are survivors scattered throughout this room. That hasn’t always been the case. That’s because of advances made by doctors and researchers and philanthropists who have given of their time, energy, and resources. These events are what spearhead these doctors for doing incredible things.”

Major props to Olsen and his mother here. It seems like this was a smashing success.
#Carolina Panthers

Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen and his mother, Susan, helped raise over $100,000 for breast cancer research Friday night at an event hosted by Carolinas HealthCare Foundation.

According to WCNC, Olsen’s mother is a 17-year survivor of breast cancer.

Olsen spoke at the event and discussed the importance of fundraisers in contributing to developments in cancer treatment: “There’s a reason there are survivors scattered throughout this room. That hasn’t always been the case. That’s because of advances made by doctors and researchers and philanthropists who have given of their time, energy, and resources. These events are what spearhead these doctors for doing incredible things.”

The 32-year-old Olsen is set to enter his 11th NFL season and his seventh with the Panthers. He has been named to the Pro Bowl in each of the past three campaigns.

Friday’s endeavor was far from Olsen’s only contribution to helping fund cancer research, as he founded Receptions for Research: The Greg Olsen Foundation in 2009.

CHARLOTTE, NC — On Monday, United Way of Central Carolinas presented Panthers TE Greg Olsen and the Greg Olsen Foundation $125,000 as part of his Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year finalist honors.

As part of the honors, Olsen earned $250,000 in charitable funds, which included $125,000 for Receptions for Research: The Greg Olsen Foundation, and $125,000 to expand United Way’s Character Playbook initiative with the Carolina Panthers.

This portion of the award was presented during Olsen’s charity golf tournament benefiting the HEARTest Yard. The program supports families of babies affected by congenital heart disease. Receptions for Research’s other program, Receiving Hope, helps those battling cancer.

“Greg and Kara Olsen’s selflessness to turn their son’s heart defect and his mother’s breast cancer into an opportunity to help countless other families speaks to their remarkable character,” said United Way of Central Carolinas executive director Sean Garrett. “Greg is an incredible ambassador for the Carolina Panthers and our community as a whole, so we’re proud that United Way’s national partnership with the NFL could help expand his foundation’s work here locally.”

The other $125,000 portion of the award will got to help local expansion of Character Playbook. This program is a national partnership between the NFL Foundation and United Way that focuses on youth character development and healthy relationships during students’ critical middle school years.

The $250,000 in Walter Payton Man of the Year funds are provided by the NFL Foundation, Nationwide, and United Way Worldwide.

The United Way gave $125,000 to Carolina Panther Greg Olsen’s foundation this week, a result of the tight end being a Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year finalist this year.

Olsen’s honor brought a total $250,000 in charitable funds to Charlotte. The half that was given to Olsen on Monday at his charity golf tournament goes to Receptions for Research: The Greg Olsen Foundation. The other half of the award will be used to expand United Way’s Character Playbook initiative with the Panthers.

Sean Garrett, United Way of Central Carolinas executive director, presented Olsen with Receptions for Research’s portion of the award at the golf tournament. The tournament benefited the HEARTest Yard, which supports families of babies affected by congenital heart disease. Receptions for Research’s other program, Receiving Hope, helps those battling cancer.

“Greg and Kara Olsen’s selflessness to turn their son’s heart defect and his mother’s breast cancer into an opportunity to help countless other families speaks to their remarkable character,” Garrett said in a statement. “Greg is an incredible ambassador for the Carolina Panthers and our community as a whole, so we’re proud that United Way’s national partnership with the NFL could help expand his foundation’s work here locally.”

The $250,000 in Walter Payton Man of the Year funds are courtesy of the NFL Foundation, Nationwide and United Way Worldwide.

The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year program is the only NFL award that recognizes a player for his community service and his excellence on the field. Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis won the honor two years earlier.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tears began to flow as Aimee Cantadore recalled the fear felt when nurses explained what she and her husband had to do at home for their newborn daughter to survive.

They continued when she remembered being told Macie Joy qualified for 280 hours of in-home nurse care through the The HEARTest Yard Foundation, established by Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen through Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte.

“He’s really kept our daughter alive by having help here,” Cantadore said.

A year ago Cantadore hadn’t heard of Olsen, who was preparing for Super Bowl 50 when Macie was born with half a heart. She wasn’t aware of his foundation, what congenital heart defect was or that Olsen had been through the same thing with his son T.J.

She still hasn’t met the three-time Pro Bowl selection, one of three finalists for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award that will be announced Saturday night at NFL Honors in Houston.

But she knows without Olsen, the past year would have been unmanageable.

“It makes me cry just thinking about it,” Cantadore said. “Having a nurse there was lifesaving. There is no way I could have handled caring for her and also be able to care for my other two [children] and continue daily things such as groceries and laundry.

“It was just a huge blessing.”

Olsen knows
In 2012, Olsen’s wife Kara gave birth to twins, son T.J. and daughter Talbot. T.J. was born with half a heart, a congenital heart defect known as hypoplastic left heart syndrome. They experienced the same fear Cantatore did as doctors and nurses explained how T.J. would need four surgeries — three open heart procedures and the installation of a pacemaker.

They felt their life was spinning out of control when told about the in-home care needed to keep T.J. alive after he spent about 40 days in intensive care.

Olsen’s biggest initial fear was he would mix the formula incorrectly and cause T.J. to die.

Within 24 hours of going home with T.J., the couple realized they needed in-home help. That was the genesis for The HEARTest Yard, a spinoff of Olsen’s foundation that was established in 2009 to raise money for breast cancer research.

“We kind of looked at each other and said, ‘This is way more than we anticipated. This is a full-time job,’ ” said Olsen, who is in Houston where the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots are preparing for Sunday’s Super Bowl LI.

“These were needs that not only were critical to his day-to-day, but critical to his development, preparing to go back into surgery.”

Fortunately for the Olsens, they could afford the care. Since 2013, their foundation has helped 47 families that could not.

Luann and Brian Register, whose son Brantley was born with HLHS in 2014, said they potentially could have lost their home had it not been for Olsen’s program.

Aimee’s husband, Frank, knows for sure he couldn’t have afforded the additional $20,000 to $25,000 in-home nursing cost on top of the other hospital bills.

“The first time [Olsen] met with a lot of us in the hospital as a group, he wanted to give these kids and these families the world, anything that he possibly could. We were actually the ones that said, ‘Slow down. We can’t do all that.'”

Kari Crawford-Plant, a pediatric nurse practitioner at Levine Children’s Hospital
He didn’t stop short of saying it was lifesaving for his daughter.

“I think that’s why they probably started the foundation,” Frank said. “They found out how difficult it is. Having that for my wife and me, it was phenomenal.”

Tears to advocate
Kari Crawford-Plant, a pediatric nurse practitioner at Levine Children’s Hospital, first met the Olsens in 2012 right after T.J.’s diagnosis.

“It wasn’t the best meeting because they were both sobbing,” she said. “I just introduced myself, told them they would get through it and that we would [tour the facility] another day when they collected themselves.

“He shook my hand and shut the door, and the next time I saw them was when they had twins.”

Crawford-Plant has watched Olsen grow from a father in disarray to a nationwide advocate for families affected by congenital heart defect.

“The one thing I have learned about Greg is he’s a big visionary,” said Crawford-Plant, who has become the go-to person at Levine for HEARTest Yard families. “The first time he met with a lot of us in the hospital as a group, he wanted to give these kids and these families the world, anything that he possibly could.

“We were actually the ones that said, ‘Slow down. We can’t do all that.’ ”

Slowing down isn’t Olsen’s style. On the field this season, he became the first tight end in NFL history to have 1,000 yards receiving for three consecutive years.

Off the field, between his HEARTest Yard campaign and Receptions for Research campaign — founded for breast cancer research because Olsen’s mother was diagnosed with that while he was in high school — the foundation has raised well over a $1.25 million.

The winner of the Walter Payton Award, which Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis won in 2014, will receive a $500,000 donation to the charity of his choice and another $500,000 in his name to be donated to the NFL’s Character Playbook.

Olsen’s foundation received a $25,000 donation from Nationwide recently when he won a social media competition among the 32 Walter Payton Award nominees.

Among those who pushed him over the top on Twitter were actors Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and William Shatner, as well as NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“He has a lot of popular celebrity connections that always help,” Crawford-Plant said. ”

[Actor] Vince Vaughn came to a hospital fundraiser. All of those things help this on a national level, not just a local level, which is important for kids with congenital heart disease.”

Game-changer
Olsen recently ran into a child at Levine whom he didn’t know had the same heart defect as T.J.

“They were just playing in the hallway,” Crawford-Plant said. “He turned and asked his grandmother, ‘What does he have?’ She told him. I could see that look on his face when he realized it was the same thing.

“It’s a game changer, and we witnessed that firsthand. It’s one of those things that is hard to imagine until you find yourself in that situation.”

Greg Olsen
“T.J. was standing there beside the child and they hugged and compared scars. I’m sure they have a lifetime bond there. It was sweet to watch.”

T.J. is 4 1/2 years old now and doing well, but even with an in-home nurse there were tough days. There were times when Olsen would leave in the middle of practice and rush home or to the hospital because of an emergency situation.

Those are things he’s able to share with other families.

“The biggest message we try telling them is the day to day, you’re going to have some bad days and you’re going to have some good days, and neither one of them is a sign of how it’s going to be forever,” Olsen said.

“Just take it as it comes, don’t get too far ahead of yourself and try to map out the next week, month, year, because it’s hard enough in the beginning to map out what the next 12 hours are going to be like.”

That’s why Olsen is so passionate about the HEARTest Yard. He only has to walk down the hall to T.J.’s room to understand what others are experiencing.

“It’s a game-changer, and we witnessed that firsthand,” he said. “It’s one of those things that is hard to imagine until you find yourself in that situation.”

Starstruck to dad
Frank Cantadore was coaching a high school basketball game at Concord First Assembly Church last year when he received one of those calls Olsen got at practice.

“I knew right away it was Macie,” he said. “Her blood saturation level, it’s supposed to be in the 80s and it was at zero. It’s a very scary time going through this, knowing your kid’s chest is wide open and you’re just helpless.”

Having a nurse there to help, Cantadore said, indeed was a lifesaver. Having an advocate like Olsen has been comforting.

“I don’t know Greg, but I’ve seen pictures of his kid running around and happy, so that was really good to hear when they told us Macie had the same thing,” he said.

Many families are starstruck when they first meet the 6-foot-5, 255-pound Olsen.

“He’s a tall man,” Crawford-Plant said. “I think they all take a step back. They get over that pretty quickly, because then they realize he’s just a dad.

“Kara and him were just two parents that were fighting the same battle to make sure not only that their child survived but thrived through their childhood.”

Saves lives
Macie Joy celebrated her first birthday two Saturdays ago.

That’s the first thing the Cantadores point to when asked why Olsen should win the man of the year award over finalists Eli Manning of the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

That’s why Aimee teared up when she began recalling all that Olsen’s foundation has done.

Crawford-Plant understands.

“What he’s doing does save lives,” she said.

Olsen doesn’t do this to win awards. He does it because it’s personal, from what he experienced with T.J. as an adult to his mother as a teenager.

He does it because he doesn’t want others to feel the fear he and Kara once did, because he wants to see other children born with a heart defect have a healthy and happy life.

“Our rule was we tried to have more good days than bad, and life was going to be normalized even if it was going to be a little at a time,” Olsen said. “That’s why we feel so passionate about playing that forward and trying to have the families that come behind us have a better experience than we did.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tears began to flow as Aimee Cantadore recalled the fear felt when nurses explained what she and her husband had to do at home for their newborn daughter to survive.

They continued when she remembered being told Macie Joy qualified for 280 hours of in-home nurse care through the The HEARTest Yard Foundation, established by Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen through Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte.

“He’s really kept our daughter alive by having help here,” Cantadore said.

A year ago Cantadore hadn’t heard of Olsen, who was preparing for Super Bowl 50 when Macie was born with half a heart. She wasn’t aware of his foundation, what congenital heart defect was or that Olsen had been through the same thing with his son T.J.

She still hasn’t met the three-time Pro Bowl selection, one of three finalists for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award that will be announced Saturday night at NFL Honors in Houston.

But she knows without Olsen, the past year would have been unmanageable.

“It makes me cry just thinking about it,” Cantadore said. “Having a nurse there was lifesaving. There is no way I could have handled caring for her and also be able to care for my other two [children] and continue daily things such as groceries and laundry.

“It was just a huge blessing.”

Olsen knows

In 2012, Olsen’s wife Kara gave birth to twins, son T.J. and daughter Talbot. T.J. was born with half a heart, a congenital heart defect known as hypoplastic left heart syndrome. They experienced the same fear Cantatore did as doctors and nurses explained how T.J. would need four surgeries — three open heart procedures and the installation of a pacemaker.

They felt their life was spinning out of control when told about the in-home care needed to keep T.J. alive after he spent about 40 days in intensive care.

Olsen’s biggest initial fear was he would mix the formula incorrectly and cause T.J. to die.

Within 24 hours of going home with T.J., the couple realized they needed in-home help. That was the genesis for The HEARTest Yard, a spinoff of Olsen’s foundation that was established in 2009 to raise money for breast cancer research.

“We kind of looked at each other and said, ‘This is way more than we anticipated. This is a full-time job,’ ” said Olsen, who is in Houston where the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots are preparing for Sunday’s Super Bowl LI.

“These were needs that not only were critical to his day-to-day, but critical to his development, preparing to go back into surgery.”

Fortunately for the Olsens, they could afford the care. Since 2013, their foundation has helped 47 families that could not.

Luann and Brian Register, whose son Brantley was born with HLHS in 2014, said they potentially could have lost their home had it not been for Olsen’s program.

Aimee’s husband, Frank, knows for sure he couldn’t have afforded the additional $20,000 to $25,000 in-home nursing cost on top of the other hospital bills.

“The first time [Olsen] met with a lot of us in the hospital as a group, he wanted to give these kids and these families the world, anything that he possibly could. We were actually the ones that said, ‘Slow down. We can’t do all that.'”

Kari Crawford-Plant, a pediatric nurse practitioner at Levine Children’s Hospital

He didn’t stop short of saying it was lifesaving for his daughter.

“I think that’s why they probably started the foundation,” Frank said. “They found out how difficult it is. Having that for my wife and me, it was phenomenal.”

Tears to advocate

Kari Crawford-Plant, a pediatric nurse practitioner at Levine Children’s Hospital, first met the Olsens in 2012 right after T.J.’s diagnosis.

“It wasn’t the best meeting because they were both sobbing,” she said. “I just introduced myself, told them they would get through it and that we would [tour the facility] another day when they collected themselves.

“He shook my hand and shut the door, and the next time I saw them was when they had twins.”

Crawford-Plant has watched Olsen grow from a father in disarray to a nationwide advocate for families affected by congenital heart defect.

“The one thing I have learned about Greg is he’s a big visionary,” said Crawford-Plant, who has become the go-to person at Levine for HEARTest Yard families. “The first time he met with a lot of us in the hospital as a group, he wanted to give these kids and these families the world, anything that he possibly could.

“We were actually the ones that said, ‘Slow down. We can’t do all that.’ ”

Slowing down isn’t Olsen’s style. On the field this season, he became the first tight end in NFL history to have 1,000 yards receiving for three consecutive years.

Off the field, between his HEARTest Yard campaign and Receptions for Research campaign — founded for breast cancer research because Olsen’s mother was diagnosed with that while he was in high school — the foundation has raised well over a $1.25 million.

The winner of the Walter Payton Award, which Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis won in 2014, will receive a $500,000 donation to the charity of his choice and another $500,000 in his name to be donated to the NFL’s Character Playbook.

Olsen’s foundation received a $25,000 donation from Nationwide recently when he won a social media competition among the 32 Walter Payton Award nominees.

Among those who pushed him over the top on Twitter were actors Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and William Shatner, as well as NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“He has a lot of popular celebrity connections that always help,” Crawford-Plant said. ”

[Actor] Vince Vaughn came to a hospital fundraiser. All of those things help this on a national level, not just a local level, which is important for kids with congenital heart disease.”

Game-changer

Olsen recently ran into a child at Levine whom he didn’t know had the same heart defect as T.J.

“They were just playing in the hallway,” Crawford-Plant said. “He turned and asked his grandmother, ‘What does he have?’ She told him. I could see that look on his face when he realized it was the same thing.

“It’s a game changer, and we witnessed that firsthand. It’s one of those things that is hard to imagine until you find yourself in that situation.”

Greg Olsen

“T.J. was standing there beside the child and they hugged and compared scars. I’m sure they have a lifetime bond there. It was sweet to watch.”

T.J. is 4 1/2 years old now and doing well, but even with an in-home nurse there were tough days. There were times when Olsen would leave in the middle of practice and rush home or to the hospital because of an emergency situation.

Those are things he’s able to share with other families.

“The biggest message we try telling them is the day to day, you’re going to have some bad days and you’re going to have some good days, and neither one of them is a sign of how it’s going to be forever,” Olsen said.

“Just take it as it comes, don’t get too far ahead of yourself and try to map out the next week, month, year, because it’s hard enough in the beginning to map out what the next 12 hours are going to be like.”

That’s why Olsen is so passionate about the HEARTest Yard. He only has to walk down the hall to T.J.’s room to understand what others are experiencing.

“It’s a game-changer, and we witnessed that firsthand,” he said. “It’s one of those things that is hard to imagine until you find yourself in that situation.”

Starstruck to dad

Frank Cantadore was coaching a high school basketball game at Concord First Assembly Church last year when he received one of those calls Olsen got at practice.

“I knew right away it was Macie,” he said. “Her blood saturation level, it’s supposed to be in the 80s and it was at zero. It’s a very scary time going through this, knowing your kid’s chest is wide open and you’re just helpless.”

Having a nurse there to help, Cantadore said, indeed was a lifesaver. Having an advocate like Olsen has been comforting.

“I don’t know Greg, but I’ve seen pictures of his kid running around and happy, so that was really good to hear when they told us Macie had the same thing,” he said.

Many families are starstruck when they first meet the 6-foot-5, 255-pound Olsen.

“He’s a tall man,” Crawford-Plant said. “I think they all take a step back. They get over that pretty quickly, because then they realize he’s just a dad.

“Kara and him were just two parents that were fighting the same battle to make sure not only that their child survived but thrived through their childhood.”

Saves lives

Macie Joy celebrated her first birthday two Saturdays ago.

That’s the first thing the Cantadores point to when asked why Olsen should win the man of the year award over finalists Eli Manning of the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

That’s why Aimee teared up when she began recalling all that Olsen’s foundation has done.

Crawford-Plant understands.

“What he’s doing does save lives,” she said.

Olsen doesn’t do this to win awards. He does it because it’s personal, from what he experienced with T.J. as an adult to his mother as a teenager.

He does it because he doesn’t want others to feel the fear he and Kara once did, because he wants to see other children born with a heart defect have a healthy and happy life.

“Our rule was we tried to have more good days than bad, and life was going to be normalized even if it was going to be a little at a time,” Olsen said. “That’s why we feel so passionate about playing that forward and trying to have the families that come behind us have a better experience than we did.”

HOUSTON

They would rather have spent Friday morning on Rice’s campus, going through their final practice before Super Bowl LI.

But if Carolina Panthers veterans Greg Olsen and Thomas Davis had to be in Houston this week for reasons other than facing the New England Patriots on Sunday, their responsibilities were worthy endeavors.

Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis (58) was the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year two years ago. Jeff Haynes AP

Some players on non-participating teams show up to the Super Bowl every year for an exercise in partying and self-promotion.

Not Olsen and Davis.

Yes, Olsen was dressed up Friday morning and headed to a Houston nightclub. But it should be noted his appearance with commissioner Roger Goodell at the House of Blues was for a fan forum with Giants quarterback Eli Manning and Cardinals wideout Larry Fitzgerald, who, along with Olsen, are the finalists for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

[READ MORE: Greg Olsen is not the Panthers’ only philanthropist]

Davis won the award, which recognized a player for “excellence on and off the field,” two years ago in Phoenix for his work with school-age children in Charlotte and his hometown in south Georgia.

If Olsen doesn’t win it this year (announced Saturday night during the NFL Honors program), he will soon.

Olsen’s HEARTest Fund has distributed $1.2 million to families of children with congenital heart defects. He and his wife, Kara, started the fund in 2013 after their son T.J. was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare defect that affects blood flow through the heart.

Part of the Panthers’ culture

Olsen suggested just getting through the preliminary round as the Panthers’ Walter Payton nominee was no small feat.

“I think as an organization, from the top down, we really pride ourselves on trying to have good guys. Not only just always the best players, but just good people, guys that do a lot,” Olsen said Friday at the Super Bowl media center.

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“And not just Thomas. Not just myself. We have a lot of guys on that team that do incredible work in the community, both in their hometowns and the Charlotte and Carolina area.”

Like a lot of Charlotteans, Davis and Olsen are transplants.

Olsen’s a north Jersey guy, the son of a high school football coach who went to college at Miami and played his first four seasons in Chicago.

Davis grew up in Shellman, Ga., a speck of a town in an area covered with pine trees and peanut fields.

Both plan to stay in Charlotte after they retire. That’s a good thing for Charlotte, beyond what it means for the tax revenues.

Sense of community

Davis was in Houston in part for a press conference trumpeting an interactive game developed by the NFL and Visa that teaches students money management skills.

Davis, who will be 34 in March, said he and his wife, Kelly, plan to keep his Defending Dreams Foundation rolling after he’s done playing.

“With Charlotte being our home base, we felt like it was important for us to really establish ourselves and plant our roots right there in Charlotte and make sure we made an impact on the community,” Davis said. “One of the ways to do it was to start our foundation. We’ve been doing it for a while. That’s something that’s been good for the community. It’s been good for us as well.”

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Olsen talked about the fateful way a trade brought him to Charlotte in 2011, a year before T.J. was born. The Olsen were impressed with the treatment and care their son received at Levine Children’s Hospital, through which his charitable program is coordinated.

“We just felt very connected to this community, very connected to this hospital and we have the opportunity to really improve the lives of the families they service,” Olsen said. “We take great pride in that.”

‘Let’s take charge’

The feel-good stories highlighting players’ charitable work often go untold, pushed aside by injury updates, contract negotiations, game analyses and hot takes.

Olsen credited Nationwide, the presenting sponsor, for bringing more visibility to the Walter Payton Award. Davis applauded the league for calling off its uniform police in Week 13 and allowing players to wear cleats that supported their charitable causes.

After being named Man of the Year two years ago, Davis gave an impassioned speech in which he issued a call for action.

“To the guys in this league, I just want to say to you, let’s take charge,” Davis said then. “We are a village. Let’s step up and be a village of guys that make a difference.”

Olsen and Davis have done that for Charlotte – and they aren’t done yet.

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Joseph Person: 704-358-5123, @josephperson

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Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article130654009.html#storylink=cpy