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People and Pop Culture

Plugged In: Cheryl DeLeonardis, Legends for Charity

As president of Florida-based Ocean 2 Ocean Productions, Cheryl DeLeonardis has become an expert at organizing events. A former Miami Dolphins cheerleader, DeLeonardis is best known to sports business executives for her Legends for Charity event during Super Bowl week, which honors an NFL broadcaster with the Pat Summerall Award, named after the former NFL broadcaster, who died in 2013. The event, which launched in 2005, has raised $4 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This year’s honoree is NFL Network host Rich Eisen.


People like Jim Nantz or Joe Buck would hear that I was honoring Pat and would say things like, ‘I would walk across the country for that man.’ That’s when I knew I was onto something. There were really no broadcasting awards that were like this, especially during Super Bowl.


Photo: COURTESY OF CHERYL DELEONARDIS
How did the dinner get started? During Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, the NFL told me I could do an event, but I had to find an honoree that had ties to the city — and Jacksonville had no NFL history at that point. It came down to me reading an article in a magazine about Pat Summerall recovering from a liver transplant that he had in his hometown at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.

How do you pick honorees? It used to be Pat and I discussing it. Pat would have the final say. After Pat passed in 2013, I usually discuss it with his widow Cherilyn. We try to concentrate on an outstanding broadcasting career, somebody that also has been instrumental in giving back to their community in some form.

How did you choose Rich Eisen? He’s emceed the event for three years. After reading my scripts after three years in a row, he decided to take his “Run, Rich, Run” that he does at the NFL combine every year and make it a charitable event for St. Jude. He said, “I could not read one more script without doing something for these kids.”

How are donations affected when the economy goes south? We haven’t experienced a drop-off. If anything, in harder times, we would ask for a lot more donations of less money, which added up to the big money. Instead of one $50,000 sponsorship, we’d ask for 10 $5,000 sponsorships. Last year was the first year that we had all the networks sponsor it, which was really a great thing. Even Turner Sports, which has nothing to do with the Super Bowl.

— John Ourand

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