NFL and College Teams Continue to Expand The Lineup For Third Annual Coach Knapp Stair Climb Campaign
The Coach Knapp Memorial Fund, named in honor of veteran NFL assistant coach Greg Knapp, is back for the third year with the goal to educate drivers on the dangers of distracted driving, reduce the number of distracted driving related deaths, and promote distracted driving awareness reform. An expanded lineup was announced with nearly half of the NFL and over a dozen NCAA teams participating in this fall’s “Coach Knapp Stair Climb.” The two newest Universities, The University of Houston (October 12) and Syracuse University (October 14) are the latest additions to the growing roster. The next NFL teams to support this stairs initiative will be the L.A. Rams on October 20, prior to their game against the Las Vegas Raiders. The Sports Techie community blog is especially grateful to share this story and effort to raise awareness about distracted driving, too often present in American culture resulting in avoidable accidents that cause unnecessary injury, and even death. I am closing in on providing 10,000 rides around Atlanta as a driver for Lyft and can attest, first-hand to witnessing distracted drivers almost on a daily basis. Nearly 1,600 drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists were killed in Georgia last year, despite a hands free law in place since 2018, with the number of bicyclists killed across the country increasing by 29%. The fund, which has raised over $250,000 to date already, was created by Greg’s wife, Charlotte, and close friend and agent, Jeff Sperbeck, to honor the legacy of Greg Knapp who tragically passed away in July 2021 after being hit by a distracted driver while he was bicycling. NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, in Salem County, New Jersey, were cycling in August and both were killed in by a drunk driver who may have also been distracted. I believe the U.S. needs to address this dilemma federally.
Quarterback Whisperer
Coach Knapp was known for climbing the stadium stairs before every single NFL game he coached over his 25 season career. In honor of Coach Knapp, NFL coaches, players, executives and alumni will participate in raising funds and awareness at each NFL stadium prior to team warm ups. Teams confirmed to participate in the stair climb include: Packers, Colts, Titans, Rams, Jets, Browns, Texans, 49ers, Commanders, Falcons. Participating NCAA teams include: Oregon State University, Georgia State University, University of Oregon, University of Houston, Syracuse University, Sacramento State, Boston College, Butler University, East Carolina University, Ripon College, Rice University, University of Utah.
This fall marks the third annual Coach Knapp Stair Climb, with this year’s initiative starting even earlier with participation kicking off with Georgia State University and Oregon State University participating in the preseason this past August. Over 500 coaches, players and staff will be participating in various forms on game days, easily eclipsing the goal of 20+ participating teams.
“I was with Coach Knapp in Denver in 2013, and he was somebody that was really influential for me as a young coach,” said Colts Offensive Coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, who participated in the Knapp Stair Climb last month alongside the coaching staff of the Green Bay Packers. “He actually got me started running the stadium stairs before games, which is a habit that I have held onto. Coach Knapp was such a beloved figure in the coaching community, and I’m blessed to have the opportunity to help honor his legacy.”
At the time of his passing, Knapp was recently named Passing Game Coordinator of the New York Jets under recently fired head coach Robert Saleh, after serving as an assistant coach for over a quarter of a century with the Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders, Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. Known as a “quarterback whisperer,” Greg coached some of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history helping chart the careers of many young athletes with kindness, humor and trust.
Additional participants will be announced in the coming weeks.
Fans, athletes, and coaches at any level can also participate wherever is most convenient to them across the country, such as apartment building stairs or a high school sports stadium. Images will be shared on various social channels.
Tag photos, videos and text with #knappstairclimb across social platforms.
To learn more on how you can get involved, details can be found at https://www.knappmemorial.org/stairclimb
Sports Techie, as the Seattle Seahawks play the San Francisco 49ers tonight on TNF on Prime Video, I reflect back to the 1997 and 1998 NFL seasons when I was the Director of Sales for Sports 2000, selling and marketing the GridIron 2000 (GI 2000), an expert game planning system co-developed by the Hawks. This was a revolutionary sports tech product the Seahawks coaches used to draw up plays and save them on Windows 95 computers when at the time, teams were drawing up plays on paper and the chalkboard resulting in an inability to save plays. One feature all users loved was the ability to click a laptop button and automatically print out an all-important, play card. I sold an unlimited site license to the University of Washington football program, and influenced the likes of Bill Belichick, Nick Saban, Tony Dungy, Al Davis, Jerry Jones, as well as Peyton Manning, and legendary Niners Head Coach Bill Walsh.
Here is where Greg Knapp and I crossed paths. CEO and company founder, Colonel James Thomes, told me to get a meeting with the 49ers as he was traveling to the Bay area. I explained that I had called and left messages many times but he insisted I get it done. I got up on a Monday and called at 8 AM on the button and who picked up the 49ers coaching department phone, none other than Coach Walsh himself. I knew I had an elevator pitch amount of time (15 seconds) to tell him who I was and what I was representing. I said, “Coach Walsh, the GI 2000, co-developed by the Seahawks, keeps your coaches more uniform and consistent, and saves your staff about 20 hours per week (in-season). I’d like to set up a meeting with your staff to demo the software in person since my boss will be in the Bay Area this week.” There was an awkward silence for a few seconds which felt like an eternity, and Coach Walsh replied, “My secretary is out sick today which is why I answered the phone, call back tomorrow and set up the meeting.” I thanked him, gave myself a selfie high-five, and set that meeting up the next day.
Coach Knapp happened to be my point person for the possible GI 2000 sale to the Niners. Unfortunately, the Niners along with the rest of the NFL, expect for the Buffalo Bills who purchased a single site license, where not interested in buying the GI2000 for a variety of reasons I could go on and on about. What I remember most and cherish to this day, is the fact that of all the coaches and staffs I influenced, Knapp was the only coach or IT personnel to write me a hand-written letter on official 49ers letterhead, letting me know the organizations unfortunate decision.
Greg was a class act then, and throughout his quarter of a decade as an NFL coach.
The Coach Knapp Memorial Fund is a testament to this fact.
Go out and climb some stairs and tag #knappstairclimb in support of educating drivers about dangers of distracted driving in order to reduce the number of deaths and enact over needed reform.
See you later sportstechie in Seattle, Atlanta and around the world!
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