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<\/a><\/p>\nThe Birds two-time Super Bowl champion, five-time All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowl O-lineman has been open for over a decade about his struggles with anxiety and depression. This season Johnson began using his voice in The Citizen to spread awareness about caring for mental health, especially in the world of sports, where an estimated 50 to 60 percent of athletes deal with some form of mental distress.<\/p>\n
Each week, Johnson spotlights mental health champions and programs in the cities the Birds are playing that week. So far, he\u2019s covered the friends who have helped him along his journey, youth-focused, and his personal mentors.<\/p>\n
His motivation? We\u2019ll let Lane take it from here:<\/p>\n
It\u2019s really important to me to keep talking about mental health. Other athletes coming forward helped me feel less alone, I want everyone else out there to feel less alone. To see that we\u2019re all more alike than we are different. To understand that there are only so many things in life we can control \u2014 and that\u2019s where we should use our energy.<\/p>\n
Johnson is also an outspoken advocate \u2014 from his actions to his custom cleats on \u201cMy Cause My Cleats\u201d day, for the Travis Manion Foundation, a local organization that supports veterans and the families of fallen soldiers.<\/p>\n
Jalen Hurts, Eagles: Citizen of the Year<\/b> It was a no-brainer to name Jalen Hurts The Citizen\u2019s 2025 Citizen of the Year. The Eagles quarterback gives back to Philadelphia in profound ways \u2014 and we\u2019re not just talking about his MVP-deserving Super Bowl performance this February.<\/p>\n For the 2024-25 football season, Hurts through his foundation donated $5,000 for every touchdown he made to keep Philadelphia schools cool during the hot summer months. Through the \u201cKeep It Cool\u201d initiative, he was able to send $170,000 to Philly schools to purchase and to install air conditioners in schools around the district. That\u2019s 34 touchdowns if you\u2019re keeping count.<\/p>\n For this year\u2019s My Cause, My Cleats, Hurts chose to champion the Children\u2019s Hospital of Pennsylvania for the second year in a row. For help designing the cleat, Hurts visited patients at the hospital to get their suggestions. Cue wholesome content.<\/a> Those very same cleats are now up for auction with all proceeds going to CHOP. The bid is currently at $5,000, with three months left of the auction. Put your bid in here.<\/a><\/p>\n A natural at giving a rousing sideline pep talk, the speech Hurts gave at our 2025 Citizen of the Year Awards was a thoughtful call to action for each Philadelphian to help each other out. Get inspired by watching it here.<\/a><\/p>\n Kyle Schwarber, Phillies: Designated Do-Gooder<\/b> Every Phillies fan\u2019s holiday wish came early when the Phillies announced they\u2019ve settled on a 5-year contract with three-time All-Star Kyle Schwarber. The $150 million deal includes a rare philanthropic clause which has Schwarber donating $150,000 per year \u2014 $750,000 \u2014 in total from his salary directly to Phillies charities.<\/p>\n Looks like all those times Phillies\u2019 fans chanted \u201cPay the man!\u201d at Citizens Bank Park this year worked out in everyone\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n Schwarber has a storied history of supporting public safety personnel. This summer, he, through Schwarber\u2019s Neighborhood Heroes, hosted his annual block party at Yards Brewing Co. to benefit first responders and military families. Since 2017, Schwarb\u2019s org has donated more than $770,000 in grants to public safety nonprofits.<\/p>\n The Philadelphia Sports Writers Association recognized Schwarber with their 2025 Ed Snider Humanitarian of the Year Award. Also this year: The Schwarbomber became the second Phillies player to ever reach 50+ home runs in a single season.<\/p>\n A.J. Brown, Eagles: The Giving Receiver<\/b> Our star wide receiver\u2019s nickname \u201cAlways Open\u201d might not mean to, but it applies to A.J. Brown\u2019s willingness to help local kids.<\/p>\n A.J. Brown launched his foundation in 2024 \u201cto create pathways for youth to build resilience, confidence, and a brighter future. Through programs and support focused on empowerment and opportunity, they help young people believe in themselves, push through challenges, and see success as something within reach.\u201d<\/p>\n How\u2019s he done it? By donating 100 bicycles and helmets<\/a> to kids in Southwest Philadelphia. Paying for groceries trips<\/a> for families in New Jersey. Visiting Boys Latin<\/a> to give students backpacks, school supplies and back-to-school cuts.<\/p>\n Like Lane Johnson, Brown has been open about his own mental health struggles and advocated for mental health awareness. Proceeds from his \u201cCheck On Your Teammates\u201d clothing collection go toward mental health research. This May, Mayor Cherelle Parker bestowed the first ever \u2018Making a Better Philly Changemaker Award\u2019 on our #11.<\/p>\n Aaron Nola, Phillies: ALS Advocate<\/b> Back when this Phillies ace was a rookie, he met up with reps from the ALS Association<\/a> during a team visit. The brief meeting deeply impacted Nola, whose uncle, Alan Andries, was diagnosed with ALS in 2015. <\/a><\/p>\n Since then, the veteran pitcher has been an advocate for people with ALS, raising $250,000 for ALS research with Strike Out ALS bowling tournaments nationwide. In 2025, the MLB\u2019s charitable arm, Players Trust, recognized Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola as 2025\u2019s Philanthropist of the Year<\/a> for his work with ALS and his work supporting veterans with the nonprofit Team Red, White and Blue<\/a>, who benefited from his $1,000-per-strikeout promise last year, to the tune of nearly $200,000.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re human beings longer than we are baseball players,\u201d he said upon receiving the honor.<\/p>\n Garnet Hathaway, Flyers: Hath\u2019s Heroes<\/b> Forward Garnet Hathaway and his wife Lindsay started their nonprofit Hath\u2019s Heroes in 2019 to benefit first responders. Last year, they teamed up with Flyers Charities on the campaign Hits for Hath\u2019s Heroes, which raised $30,000 for Families Behind the Badge Children\u2019s Foundation,<\/a> a nonprofit that helps connect first responders with mental health resources.<\/p>\n This year, he partnered with Dogfish Head brewery to create a limited edition IPA, Engine 19, whose sales will go to his namesake charity. Of course, the beer is Flyers orange.<\/p>\n Tyrese Maxey, Sixers: Here with the Assist<\/b> Everyone\u2019s favorite point guard founded his namesake foundation in 2021<\/a> to support young people and their families through education, athletics and community initiatives. This year, Maxey hosted a night of giving dinner, celebrity golf tournament and basketball skills camp for 7-to-12-year-olds. No word on whether part of those skills involved using a can opener.<\/p>\n Maxey is also the team\u2019s top contributor to Assists for Safe Communities, a collaboration between the Sixers and Penn Medicine, that donates $76 to grassroots violence prevention programs in Philly for every assist the team gets on the court. (He leads the team in assists.) The initiative raised $144,476 last year<\/a>, contributing to: Design FC,<\/a> Free All Minds Academy,<\/a> Level Up Philly,<\/a> Open Door Abuse Awareness Prevention,<\/a> Ordinarie Heroes,<\/a> and The Apologues.<\/a><\/p>\n Jeffrey Lurie, Eagles: A Champion for the Autism Community<\/b> This year, the Eagles owner donated $50 million \u2014 \u201clargest single donation to U.S. academic medical centers focused on autism research across the lifespan,\u201d according to Penn<\/a> \u2014 to Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine to develop the Lurie Autism Institute for research into and development of innovative treatments for autism spectrum disorder.<\/p>\n The center expands on Lurie\u2019s commitment to supporting individuals affected by autism. He\u2019s overseen the Eagles\u2019 Autism Foundation since 2018 \u2014 and since donated more than $40 million to autism research and support. Under his leadership, the Birds became the NFL\u2019s first team to have a sensory experience room in its stadium. No coincidence Eagles mascot Swoop regularly wears headphones.<\/p>\n John Middleton, Phillies: Art Collector Turned Art Sharer<\/b> The Philadelphia Phillies owner isn\u2019t just a collector of All-Star-worthy baseball players. For the past 50 years, the scion of a family cigar fortune has collected fine 19th and 20th century American art \u2014 and, in the process, earned status as one of the world\u2019s top 200<\/a> art collectors.<\/p>\n Until now, the Middleton Family Collection has been very private. That changes April of next year, when both the Philadelphia Art Museum and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art will display a groundbreakingly expansive \u2014 1,000 works! \u2014 exhibition entitled Nation of Artists. Will Jasper Johns\u2019 Flag, which Middleton is rumored to have purchased for $28.6 million, be there? Only one way to find out: Check out the self-funded exhibition \u2014 which opens a few days after the Phils season starts.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/a>Jalen Hurts, at the 2025 Citizen of the Year Awards. <\/p>\n<\/a>Kyle Schwarber, repping his foundation. <\/p>\n<\/a>A.J. Brown and friends. <\/p>\n<\/a>Aaron Nola. <\/p>\n<\/a>Hath\u2019s Heroes, including Garnet Hathaway, second from left. <\/p>\n<\/a>Tyrese Maxey (center) with Philly Youth Basketball players. <\/p>\n<\/a>Lurie Autism Institute announcement with, from left: CHOP CEO Madeline Bell, Mayor Cherelle Parker, and Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie. <\/p>\n<\/a>Philadelphia Phillies owner John Middleton looks on at the Phillies Wall of Fame ceremony prior to a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Friday, August 1, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo\/Chris Szagola). <\/p>\n