Former Buccaneer Jerry Wunsch’s Impact on the Tampa Bay Community

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If Jerry Wunsch had stayed on a couple of more seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers he would be wearing a Super Bowl ring. From 1997 to 2001 Wunsch was a part of the Bucs offensive line that helped his worn team later on reach the Super Bowl and win on its first try. After his tenure with the Buccaneers he went diagonally cross country to the Pacific Northwest playing for the Seattle Seahawks from 2002 to 2005. However, during his off-season when he was with the Tampa Bay franchise he hosted a charity event for children in his home state of Wisconsin. Eventually, when his professional football career was over, he moved back to Tampa Bay to devote his time to the Wunsch Family Foundation. Let’s find out more how this former Buccaneer has made a gargantuan impact on the community.

About Jerry Wunsch

Gerald “Jerry” Wunsch was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on January 21, 1974. He played football as a upright tackle for the University of Wisconsin from 1992-1996. In 1997 he was then drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round, 37^th overall. His positions were offensive guard and then in 1999 Wunsch started in the right tackle position. He took over that position when Jason Odom suffered a back injury that ended his career. In 2002 during summer camp training Wunsch was beaten out for the status by Kenyatta Walker. As a result of making too much money to remain as a back-up player he was released during the pre-season and played for the Seattle Seahawks. Jerry Wunsch played for a total of nine years in the NFL. He started 51 games out of a total of 113 during his pro football career.

After the NFL

According to LinkedIn since March of 2005 he is the owner and director of business development for Enablest. They provide business solutions for merchants with credit cards. Enablest will donate 10% of their profits to the merchant’s charities. Other charities that beget a honest impact globally will receive 20%. They’ll even set-up their provider services programs to school, charities, churches and other companies. He’s on the Board of Directors of the Children Cancer Center and PARC. This year he became a regular contributor to the inside news website called the Pewter Report. He offers his own in-depth, technical, expert insight and opinions on the Bucs offense. His very first article for the Pewter Report talks in depth about his work with children who have cancer and chronic blood disorders. It is called The Wunsch Family Foundation

Jerry & Melissa Wunsch’s Impact on The Wunsch Family Foundation

Ever since 1997 when Jerry’s beloved cousin’s wife, Missy Dumdy, was diagnosed with skin melanoma, while she was pregnant, he wanted to be of some help to the family. He realized how cancer affects not only the person stricken with the deadly disease, but all other members of the family emotionally, mentally and financially. After her passing he vowed to make it his mission to help other families whose children aree diagnosed with cancer and chronic blood disorders. For the past 13 years he has taken children stricken with cancer on their Winter Week ski trips to his home state of Wisconsin. They get a chance to have some fun in the snow whether it’s to learn to ski, snowmobile or any other fun activity. These trips are called Circle of Friends.

Of course these annual trips are extremely costly, because a staff of professionals that includes doctors, nurses, child specialists and ski patrol provide a protected environment for them while at the same time let’s them be kids and they can talk about their illness. Luckily the Wunsch family could always count on several Bucs players to come on these trips as well as other NFL players. The foundation, which is based in Tampa, is able to make these astounding yearly trips possible for children with various fundraisers like wine tastings and private donations. In 2008 they received a grant from Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation.

One of the Wunsch Family Foundation’s many objectives is to encourage children to learn unusual experiences such as winter sports and other activities they’d never do otherwise. Also, they want to expand the Circle of Friends to include a player and child from all the NFL cities. Most of all they want to bring more awareness, interest and support to their extraordinary program. Like Jerry Wunsch stated in his first article to the Pewter Picture that nowadays all you read about are how professional athletes screw up. This has lead to an unfair stereotype, because there are countless athletes, besides him, who are doing phenomenal work quietly behind the scenes.

SOURCES:

Jerry Wunsch NFL & AFL Football Statistics, Pro-Football-Reference

Jerry Wunsch – T – 71, BUCPOWER

Jerry Wunsch, LinkedIn

Jerry Wunsch & Jim Flynn, “Wunsch Breaks Down Man and Zone Blocking Schemes“, Pewter Report

Jerry Wunsch, “Wunsch Continues to Support Kids with Cancer“, Pewter Report

Jerry & Melissa Wunsch, The Wunsch Family Foundation, Wunsch Family Foundation