Sports


Click on the link at the player/team name to go directly to their Autism Light post.



Major League Baseball
Teams

Players
Will Clark: A retired baseball player known as "The Thrill" who played from 1986-2000, most of his career with the San Francisco Giants. His son Trey has autism.
Tarik El-Abour: He has autism and in 2018 was signed to a contract to play in the Kansas City Royals minor league system. He is believed to be the first player with autism to ever play a major league baseball organization.
Jeff Francoeur: An outfielder who currently plays for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was selected for taking the time for a fan with autism when he played for the Kansas City Royals in 2012.
Eddie Guardado: A retired baseball relief pitcher who played from 1993-2009 for the Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, and Texas Rangers. His daughter Ava has autism. 
Dillon Howard: A minor league baseball pitcher for the Cleveland Indians organization. His brother Ben has autism.
Matt Kemp: An outfielder for the San Diego Padres. Matt Kemp's brother Carlton has autism. 
Jim Palmer: A retired Hall of Fame Baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles from 1965-1983. His stepson Spencer has autism.
Jim Price: A retired baseball player for the Detroit Tigers baseball team from 1967-1973 and now the color commentator for their radio network. His son Jackson has autism.
Curt Schilling: A retired baseball pitcher who played from 1987-2007 for both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox. His son Grant has autism.
Darryl Strawberry: A retired baseball player who played from 1983-1999. He played for the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and the New York Yankees. Although his family is not impacted by autism, he established an autism foundation.
B.J. Surhoff: A retired baseball player who played from 1987-2005. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, and the Baltimore Orioles. His son Mason has autism.



National Basketball Association
Teams
Philadelphia 76ers

Players
Deron Williams: An all-star guard for the Brooklyn Nets. His son D.J. has autism.

National Football League
Teams
Carolina Panthers

Announcer
Myron Cope (1929-2008): The Hall of Fame color analyst for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1970-2005, who created The Terrible Towel.  His son Danny has autism.

Players
Doug Flutie: A retired football quarterback who played in the USFL, CFL, and NFL from 1985-2005. His son Doug, Jr. has autism. 
Dan Marino: A retired Hall of Fame football player who was the quarterback for the Miami Dolphins from 1983-1999. His son Michael has autism.
Cam Newton: A quarterback for the Carolina Panthers who showed kindness in 2015 to a then six year old with autism named Jaxon Shytle. 
Rodney Peete: A retired NFL quarterback who played from 1989-2005. His son R.J. has autism. 
Travis Rudolph: A wide receiver for the New York Giants who showed kindness in 2016 to a student with autism named Bo Paske.
John Schneider: The General Manager of the Seattle Seahawks. His son Ben has autism.
Curt Warner: A retired NFL running back who played from 1983-1990. His twin sons Christian and Austin have autism. 


Professional Golf
Ernie Els: A professional golf player known as The Big Easy. His son Ben has autism.
Cliff Kresge: A professional golf player who formed Kresge's Krew Foundation. His son Mason has autism.
Moe Norman: A professional golf player from Canada who was believed to have high functioning autism and is considered to have had the purest swing in the history of golf.
Jordan Spieth: A highly ranked professional golf player from Dallas, Texas. His sister Ellie has autism and he formed The Jordan Spieth Family Foundation.
Elijah Winfrey: A golfer who plays with the Golf Channel Pro Am Tour. His niece and nephew have autism.

Bowling
Trey Brand: A 13 year old who has autism and has bowled multiple perfect 300 games.


Boxing
Michael Gibbons: A lightweight prizefighter known as The Godfather. His brother has autism.

Fisherman
Michael Iaconeli: A professional bass fisherman. He has supported autism causes.


National Hockey League
Byron Dafoe: A retired professional hockey player who played from 1992 and 2004 with the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, Los Angeles Kings and Atlanta Thrashers. His son has autism and he was one of the original three founders of Athletes Against Autism. 
Olaf Kolzig: A retired professional hockey player who played all but the last 8 games of his career from 1989-2009 as a Goalie for the Washington Capitals. His son Carson has autism and he was one of the original three founders of Athletes Against Autism.
Ted Lindsay: A retired professional hockey player who played from 1944-65 for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks. In 2001 at age 76, he formed the Ted Lindsay Foundation to fund autism research and treatments.
Scott Mellanby: A retired professional hockey player who played from 1985-2007 with a variety of teams. His son Carter has autism and he was one of the original three founders of Athletes Against Autism. 


NASCAR
Jamie McMurray: A NASCAR Driver who has a niece with autism and is President of the Jamie McMurray Foundation for autism.


Runners
Mikey Brannigan: A young adult who is practicing for the 2024 Olympics and has won numerous achievements for his running.
Marc Leber: A college student and track star who participated in Team Hoyt races with a young man with autism named Ashton McCormick.
Alex and Jamie Schneider: Identifical twins with autism who are non verbal have competed in over 130 races.

Surfer
Izzy Paskowitz: An autism father from California who was a champion in professional long surfboarding and founded Surfers Healing to introduce surfing to children with autism. His son Isaiah has autism.

Wrestler
Chris NorthA high school wrestler at Northwest High School in Justin, Texas who gave his silver medal to a boy with autism named Alex Chappell.


College Teams
DePaul University Athletics
Oklahoma State University Athletics

College Players
Alex Cohen: Forward and Center for the Women's Basketball Team at Northwestern University from 2011-2015. Her brother Aaron Cohen has autism.
Anthony IanniCenter for the Men's Basketball Team at Michigan State University from 2010-2012. First NCAA athlete basketball player with autism.
Devin RossThe first swimmer in the history of Centenary College to make the Olympic Trials in 2012.


Coaches
Jason Allison: Assistant Coach for Appalachian State Men's Basketball Team. His two sons Ryder and Riley have autism.
Jim Calhoun (Retired): Former coach of the University of Connecticut Men's Basketball Team and autism grandfather.
Mike Frandsen: Coaches life skills, including sports for individuals with autism.
Tom Herrion: Assistant Coach for Georgia Tech Men's Basketball Team. His son Robert has autism.
Jim Johnson (Retired): Former Boy's Varsity basketball coach for Greece-Athena High School. He coached Jason McElwain.
Joe McKeown: Women's Basketball Coach at Northwestern. His son Joey has autism.
Dave Rice: Men's Basketball Coach at UNLV. His son Dillon has autism.
Pat Skerry: Men's Basketball Coach at Towson University. His son Owen has autism.  
Scott Wiley (Retired): Former Women's Hockey Coach at Colgate University. 


STUDENTS
Nicholas Bennett: Basketball manager from 2011-2015 for the North Hall High School basketball team in Gainesville, Georgia. Nick made 1,000 shots from half court over the years of practices.
Kendrick Brinson: Basketball player for Soledad High School in Monteray County, California in 2010-2011 seasons.
Manny Dedmon: Football player at Birdville High School near Ft. Worth, Texas in 2013-2014 seasons.
Ethan Fowlks: Baseball player for the Salt Lake Sidewinders Under 12 team who hit the walk off home run on July 11, 2013 for his team to win the championship in Cooperstown, New York.
Cortland Hale: Defensive Tackle on the football team for Brookwood High School in Snellville, Georgia for 2007-2008 seasons.
Wyatt Iles: Junior golfer from Clairmont, California who has been successful in golf tournaments. He will be in 8th grade in 2014.
Jason McElwain: Basketball manager who scored 20 points in the last 4 minutes in a high school game on 2/15/2006 for Greece-Athena High School in Rochester, New York.
Ranveer Singh Saini: A 14 year old golfer from India who in 2015 became the first citizen of India to win a Gold Medal in the Special Olympics World Games.
Anthony Starego: Kicker on the football team for Brick High School in Brick, New Jersey. He was a senior in 2012.

SPECIAL MENTION
Dwayne Ballen: Sports announcer and autism father who wrote the book "Journey with Julian".
Alex Herrmann: Predicted Correctly First 2 Rounds of 2010 NCAA Basketball Tournament.


Photo: The photo of Wrigley Field is in the Creative Commons of Wikipedia and is attributed to Rick Dikeman.

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