Syracuse Uplifting Athletes Raises More than $11,000 at Lift for Life

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse chapter of Uplifting Athletes welcomed friends, family and fans to its first publicly held "Lift for Life" on Saturday, July 25 at Coyne Field. The Orange succeeded in raising over $11,000 to help fight anaplastic astrocytoma, a rare form of brain cancer that former Syracuse punter and team captain Rob Long was diagnosed with in 2010.

As of Saturday morning, Syracuse football student-athletes had reached their goal of $10,000, and by the afternoon total donations for this year were at more than $11,000.

During the Lift for Life, the Orange split up into eight teams and competed in various events that tested strength and endurance, including tire flips, prowler push and pulls, 60-yard shuttles and a farmer's walk. Most importantly, the Orange came together as one to help out a great cause.

"I told the team it means so much to me and my family for them to come out and put in the time and effort to help support this cause," Long said. "All of the research and efforts of raising awareness has helped so much. Five years later and I am cancer free, living a normal life. The team is making a bigger difference than they really know."

Sam Rodgers, a four-year letterwinner who concluded his Orange playing career in 2014, founded the Uplifting Athletes Syracuse chapter three years ago. Since its inception, the chapter has raised more $25,000 for brain cancer research.

Rodgers has since passed the torch to junior center Jason Emerich, who is the current president of the Uplifting Athletes Syracuse chapter. Despite not having the opportunity to play with Long, Emerich still considers him a brother and wanted to pick up where Rodgers left off.

"It was great to have Rob talk to all of us before the event because people learned how important all of this really is and how there are bigger things going on in life than the game of football," Emerich said. "We had a great first public Lift for Life. There are always things to build on, but as a whole I would say the team did a great job in allowing us to reach our goal."

When it was all said and done, Team Trudo, led by senior center Rob Trudo, defeated Team Franklin, headed up by sophomore linebacker Zaire Franklin, in the tug-of-war to take home first place.

About Uplifting Athletes: Uplifting Athletes is a national nonprofit organization aligning college football with rare diseases and raising them as a national priority through outreach, research, education, and advocacy. What makes Uplifting Athletes unique is that our chapter network is run by current football student-athletes, providing them with an opportunity to gain practical job skills while learning how to leverage their assets and abilities to make a positive and lasting impact.

The Uplifting Athletes Chapters are: Penn State, Arizona, Colgate, Illinois, Northwestern, Princeton, Syracuse, Baylor, Florida State, Maryland, Notre Dame, St. Francis (Pa.), Virginia, Boston College, Fordham, Nebraska, Ohio State, South Carolina, Washington, Clemson, Georgetown, NC State, Stony Brook and Wisconsin. Each chapter adopts one out of approximately 7,000 rare diseases.

Syracuse opens the 2015 season at home on Friday, Sept. 4 against Rhode Island. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Carrier Dome. Season tickets and mini-packs are available online, by phone (1-888-DOMETIX), at Destiny USA kiosks and at the Carrier Dome Box Office (Gate B). In addition, discounted group tickets (20 or more) for all home games can be purchased by calling 315-443-3212.

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Syracuse University Athletics

Syracuse Uplifting Athletes Raises More than $11,000 at Lift for Life

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Players Mentioned

Jason Emerich

Zaire Franklin

Sam Rodgers

Rob Trudo

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