As many of you know, there is a group of Footballguys, myself included, that take great pleasure in the use of statistical analysis as a means to succeed in fantasy football. Traditionally, we do much of our work leading up to the draft, using historical trends analysis and number crunching to help fine tune our annual projections for players and teams. But statistical analysis can, when used in conjunction with logical reasoning and sound football acumen, be useful during the season, as well. With that in mind, I will attempt to address some relevant in-season issues each and every week, with a statistical slant of course…

Stats that really matter…

As football fans, the numbers we usually care about are found inside the box score. And that's OK, because after all without statistics, there would be no fantasy football, and then what would we do with our free time?

But in all seriousness, in this week of Thanksgiving, I thought we would focus on some NFL statistics that go far beyond the box score, but ultimately matter as much, if not more to a lot of folks.

• 1 - Number of times Terrell Owens (WR-Philadelphia) presented before the Congressional Senate Appropriations Committee to lobby in support of increased funding for Alzheimer's Disease research
• 2 - Number of centers started by Torry Holt (WR-St. Louis) to provide guidance and support for children dealing with parents diagnosed with cancer
• 3 - New playgrounds built by Amani Toomer (WR-New York Giants) in the last year
• 4 - Truckloads of food and gifts supplied by various Oakland Raiders for needy families this holiday season
• 8 - Number of college scholarships awarded to academically gifted students in the Minnesota area by Matt Birk (C-Minnesota)
• 9 - Number of ill children (and families) taken to Disney World by Kurt (QB-New York Giants) and Brenda Warner
• 10 - Annual scholarships provided by Jerome Bettis (RB-Pittsburgh) to college bound seniors attending his former high school
• 12 - At-risk children who are provided full scholarships to college by Marcus Pollard (TE-Indianapolis) and his wife
• 18 - Number of scholarships provided by John Lynch (S-Denver) since 1998
• 24 - Cleveland Browns players chipped in to construct a playground for underprivileged youth in one day in October
• 26 - Nurses paid for by Fred Miller (OT-Tennessee) to make home visits to needy mothers for after-birth care and education; in the last five years they have made 8,000 home visits and Miller has donated more than $1 million
• 36 - The number of at-risk children sponsored by Bryant Young (DT-San Francisco) and his wife each year; culminating in the provision of tuition for those who choose to attend college
• 37 - Number of single mothers provided house down payments, furnishings, clothing and food by Warrick Dunn (RB-Atlanta)
• 49 - Pediatric cancer patients who have been treated to week-long winter getaway vacations over the last three years with Jerry Wunsch (OT-Seattle) and Grant Wistrom (DE-Seattle)
• 100 - Needy families provided Thanksgiving dinners by David Akers (PK-Philadelphia) each year
• 100 - Thanksgiving dinners provided by Gary Baxter (CB-Baltimore) to needy families in the greater Baltimore area
• 150 - Holiday dinners provided by various Jaguars players this Thanksgiving
• 180 - Charities donated at least $5,000 annually by the Arizona Cardinals players and organization
• 200 - Number of college scholarships provided by Junior Seau (LB-Miami) and his family over his playing career
• 300 - The number of turkey dinners provided by Derrick Brooks (LB-Tampa Bay) every Thanksgiving to needy families in the Tampa area
• 300 - The number of turkey dinners provided by Pat Williams (DT-Buffalo) every Thanksgiving to needy families in the Buffalo area
• 440 - Thanksgiving dinners provided by Ray Lewis (LB-Baltimore) to needy families in the greater Baltimore area
• 500 - People fed on a consistent basis by Willie Anderson (OT-Cincinnati)
• 800 - Number of needy people provided Thanksgiving lunch by Peyton Manning (QB-Indianapolis)
• 1,000 - Thanksgiving dinners provided by LaDainian Tomlinson (RB-San Diego) each year (as well as numerous shopping sprees for participating children)
• 1,200 - Number of children provide book bags, school supplies and lunch provisions by Ray Lewis (LB-Baltimore) each year
• 2,000 - Children given Christmas presents and holiday parties by Peyton Manning (QB-Indianapolis)
• 10,000 - Coats, hats & scarves collected by Chicago Bears players (and the organization) in the annual Bears/Menards Coat Drive
• 11,000 - Number of toys donated by Eagles players over the last three holiday seasons
• 12,000 - Amount Donald Driver (WR-Green Bay) challenges homeless families to save over a five year period in order to purchase their own home (which Driver bought for them and allows them to live in over that time)
• 15,000 - Estimated number of children enrolled in the "Learn to Read" program started by Aaron Brooks (QB-New Orleans) last year to promote literacy in Louisiana
• 20,000 - Money donated annually by Jamie Sharper (LB-Houston) to the local Boys/Girls Clubs
• 51,000 - Dictionaries donated by Tony Richardson (RB-Kansas City) to local schools
• 80,000 - Pounds of food distributed by Ricky Manning (CB-Carolina), Tutan Reyes (OG-Carolina) and Travelle Wharton (OG-Carolina) for Thanksgiving
• 88,000 - Number of needy people impacted by Will Shields' (OG-Kansas City) charitable efforts over the last decade
• 100,000 - Amount donated by Patrick Kerney (DE-Atlanta) to surviving members of families who lost a police officer to the line of duty
• 117,500 - Money donated by Jermaine Mayberry (OG-Philadelphia) to start a vision testing program for Philadelphia area children
• 150,000 - Amount of scholarship fund started by Dre Bly (CB-Detroit) for eligible students at UNC-Chapel Hill, his alma mater
• 350,000 - Amount donated by Redskins players to various youth organizations since 2002
• 400,000 - Amount donated by the Detroit Lions' Foundation this year
• 900,000 - Amount donated to various youth charities by Peyton Manning (QB-Indianapolis) over the last five years
• 1,000,000 and counting - Amount donated to various charities by Kurt (QB-New York Giants) and Brenda Warner over the last five years
• 1,200,000 and counting - Amount donated by the Chargers organization in scholarships and grants to students since 2000
• 1,200,000 and counting - Amount donated to various charities by Brett Favre (QB-Green Bay Packers) and family over the last eight years
• 9,500,000 - Amount raised by the Gridiron Gala, an annual event held since 1994 in partnership with the United Way and the New York NFL Franchises; Kareem McKenzie (OT-New York Jets) was this year's recipient of the Good Guy award for his various charitable efforts

What's really impressive is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. When I set out to do this article I had no idea it would be so easy to find examples of charitable work and donations by NFL players; and yet it's something we so rarely hear about. It seems that every time a player makes a bone-headed comment or suffers an embarrassment of any kind it travels around the media circuit faster than the speed of light, yet you would be hard pressed to hear of any of these charitable endeavors outside of regional news coverage were you not consciously looking for them.

A special thanks to The Sporting News, whose annual Good Guys Awards served as a jumping off point for this idea (as well as a source of some of these mentions).

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

Notes:
1) All fantasy point production assumes the Footballguys Scoring System:

• 1 point per 20 yards passing
• 1 point per 10 yards receiving or rushing
• 4 points per passing TD
• 6 points per rushing or receiving TD
• -1 per interception thrown

2) Special thanks to Doug Drinen and Ken Maxwell for providing the relevant statistical databases

3) Feel free to contact me ([email protected]) if you wish to discuss this column further or share other ideas for future issues