Tag: Good Morning America

WATCH: Jalen Hurts sat down with ‘GMA’ to discuss his support for Philly schools

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts sat down with ‘Good Morning America’ to discuss his Touchdowns for Air Conditioners initiative for Philadelphia public schools

Jalen Hurts has spent the last year trying to keep city schools cool during the summer, and he’s taking his efforts to another level. On the Friday before kickoff in Sao Paulo,  the Jalen Hurts Foundation announced that throughout the 2024 NFL season, for every touchdown the Eagles quarterback scores this year, they will donate $5,000 to improve air conditioning at ten additional Philadelphia schools.

The Jalen Hurts Foundation continues its Keep It Cool Initiative by launching a season-long TDs for ACs campaign. In the 2024-25 season, the foundation will donate $5,000 per Jalen Hurts touchdown to improve air conditioning at ten additional Philadelphia schools. With almost 100 schools and 50,000 students still lacking proper cooling, your support is vital. Fans can contribute to the Keep It Cool Initiative by making a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation.
Together, we can create a better learning environment and help students thrive despite extreme heat.

Hurts is now getting his message out to the rest of the country, and on Tuesday, Philadelphia’s star quarterback appeared on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ where he discussed his Touchdowns for Air Conditioners initiative.

The Eagles star quarterback signed a five-year, $255 million contract extension last spring and put his new money to work, looking to impact the community. In May, Hurts donated $200,000 to Philadelphia schools for new air conditioning in 10 schools.

Now, the Jalen Hurts Foundation plans to address the needs of the nearly 100 remaining schools without air conditioners.

Hurts previously provided $200,000 worth of air conditioners to ten Philly schools: Clara Barton, Gloria Casarez, Castor Gardens, D. Newlin Fell, Thomas Finletter, Fliter Academic Plus, Benjamin Franklin/Science Leadership Academy, Edward Gideon, Abram Jens, and T. Roosevelt. The district listed these schools as earmarked for new air conditioning units.

Michigan State safety gifted $40,000, trip to Disney, and car from Good Morning America

Good Morning America hooked up Armorion Smith and his family in a big way

At this point, I would think most people reading this know the story of Armorion Smith, the Michigan State football safety who has taken custody of his siblings after his family lost their mom this year. This week, Armorion was on Good Morning America, and they did some pretty awesome stuff for him and his family.

Host Michael Strahan showed Smith and his brother Armon a number of generous gifts, which included $40,000, a fully covered trip to Disney Land, and a brand new SUV. It was a great moment for someone who really deserved it.

You can watch the full video here.

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Former Giants RB Tiki Barber critical of Commanders’ Austin Ekeler

Barber didn’t agree with Ekeler saying why he was no longer a Charger.

Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber has never shied away from controversy. In 2002, Barber was entering his sixth season in the NFL and criticized a teammate—siding with the team—regarding the teammate’s contract.

That player was future Hall of Famer Michael Strahan. Needless to say, Strahan was not happy, and neither were others around the league. It’s one thing to say that as a media member, but not as a current player, much less a teammate.

It’s no surprise that Barber would join the media after his career. So would Strahan, who is in a different stratosphere as co-host of the Fox NFL pregame show and “Good Morning America.”

These days, Barber co-hosts a daily radio show, “Evan & Tiki,” on WFAN Sports Radio in New York. This week, Barber made some headlines by criticizing current Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler.

Why would Barber criticize Ekeler, one of the league’s good guys?

A few weeks ago, Ekeler was a guest on “Up & Adams” with Kay Adams when he spoke of why he was no longer with the Los Angeles Chargers.

“They went out and drafted a tackle in the first round, brought in some bigger backs over from Baltimore,” Ekeler said. “They want a guy that can hand the ball off to 200-300 times a year, and look, I haven’t had the capacity to do that; that’s not my game. That’s not how Austin Ekeler is going to be best on the field. There was a misalignment there, no harm, no foul. I will go find somewhere else where I can add value, where Austin can be the best version of myself out there.”

From the sounds of it, Ekeler was being honest. As a running back entering his eighth NFL season, Ekeler understands better than anyone what he can best give a team at this stage of his career. The Commanders agreed, signing Ekeler to a two-year contract early in free agency, where he is expected to be a focal point of new offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury’s offense.

“Austin Ekeler said something the other day; it was so discouraging,” Barber began. “So discouraging. It had nothing to do with anything. He was asked about why the Jim Harbaugh-led Chargers weren’t ideal for him or why they moved on from him. And you know what his answer was? They want a guy who can run the ball 300 times per season.”

“So, in other words, Ekeler was saying he can’t do that,” his co-host asked Barber.

“Yes,” Barber said. “Go look at how many times I ran the ball 300 times a year,” he said. “He’s just saying, ‘It’s not my game.’ Dude, you couldn’t get me off the field.”

Next, they debated about running back pay and how much Christian McCaffrey carries the football, with Barber noting how many “100-percent participation games” McCaffrey has had in his career.

In his 10-year career, Barber carried the football 300 times or more four different times. He was also a solid receiver out of the backfield. However, his argument here holds no weight. The NFL has determined the value for every running back not named McCaffrey. He’s different from everyone else, much like Patrick Mahomes was different from the rest of the league’s quarterbacks.

Ekeler attempted to get an extension with the Chargers before last season. They weren’t budging. When Harbaugh took over, he runs a completely different offense and Ekeler was not a fit. In today’s NFL, Ekeler does fit a number of teams. One of those teams is Washington. Barber’s Giants were reportedly even considering Ekeler before they lost Saquon Barkley.

Perhaps this was an opportunity for Barber to talk about himself and his playing career. Otherwise, his comments are meaningless.

 

‘Good Morning America’ gifts New York high school team $30K of football equipment; partners donate as well

‘Good Morning America’ and its partners gifted Bronx high school Cardinal Hayes new football equipment, cleats, money and Giants tickets.

Cardinal Hayes (Bronx, N.Y.) became the first New York City team to win the Catholic League Championship in December, accomplishing a feat even more impressive with the full picture of the season and program. The details were so inspirational, in fact, that “Good Morning America” (GMA) hosted a live production with the team and presented gifts to help rectify some of the barriers they had to overcome.

After going 2-8 the season prior, Cardinal Hayes faced a daunting prospect for 2023 outlined in the “GMA” production. The practice field was not full-size and didn’t have lights, so after sundown the team would walk to a nearby field to finish practice. Their home field, located at a public park, was deemed unsafe for official games, so every single game this season was played at an opposing team’s stadium.

Cardinal Hayes President Michael Carey explained to BMA that the school is located in the poorest congressional district in the nation.

“Most of the students come from the surrounding area,” he said. “One thing we’re guaranteed is we’re gonna get knocked down. The question is how we respond.”

They responded magnificently, going 12-2 and taking down St. Francis (Hamburg, N.Y.) 40-22 to win the championship.

“We might not have the most money out of everybody in the league, but I feel we just have to outwork them, and that’s what our coaches really told us a lot,” said junior wide receiver Reid Jones in the “GMA” video.

That mentality was part of their turnaround. The 10-minute walk after dark to a nearby field was viewed as bonding time. The rusty outdoor weights, which gained “incremental pounds” by rain, made them stronger, said junior quarterback Rich Belin.

See the full video here:

Now, “Good Morning America” and its partners are helping to fix the issues. Michael Strahan, New York Giants Hall of Famer who is now with “Good Morning America,” surprised the team with gifts, funding, and some new collegiate offers to a couple players.

Strahan revealed to Jones that William and Mary, Georgetown, and Fordham were all issuing offers. Strahan then told junior wide receiver Jayden Mann that his dream school Syracuse was issuing an offer.

What else did “Good Morning America” gift through its partners?

Riddell provided more than $30,000 worth of football equipment including helmets and pads. Nike gifted every player a pair of cleats. Bank of America provided $50,000 to the program and financial literacy lessons through its Better Money Habits program.

The New York Giants also gave the team tickets to a preseason game.

With those gifts and the culture already built at Cardinal Hayes, you can be sure they’ll be fighting for a spot at the top again next year.

Sister Jean surprisingly picked a non-Chicago team to win the NCAA men’s national title

Now that’s a surprising pick from Sister Jean.

Sister Jean remains one of the most beloved figures of the college basketball world, and she’s made a fascinating pick for the NCAA men’s tournament this spring.

While promoting her new memoir Wake Up With Purpose!: What I’ve Learned in My First Hundred Years, the 103-year-old Loyola men’s basketball chaplin shared a lot of great insight about her life in an interview with Good Morning America. 

However, Sister Jean also predicted an unexpected team to win the title for men’s basketball this season. While she’s always a Ramblers fan deep down, she’s guessing that Kentucky will win March Madness. Now that’s a stunner.

While the Wildcats struggled to start the hoops season, the team has rebounded and is third in the SEC standings as of Monday night. Kentucky has won four-straight games and should get a decent seed in the bracket in March.

The team now has one of the sharpest minds in the sport picking them, too. That’s got to feel good for the folks in Lexington. Sister Jean is on your side.

Stetson Bennett’s post-championship celebration led to this amazing Good Morning America appearance

Let Stetson sleep, y’all. He needs it.

I think it’s safe to say Stetson Bennett had a pretty good time last night. It’s almost a requirement to go out and have a bit of fun after winning a national championship in the College Football Playoff.

Especially when you’re the quarterback? And you made the biggest throw of the game in the 4th quarter to put your team up? Yeah, you deserve to have a bit of fun.

And, clearly, Bennett did. We know because he showed up for his Good Morning America interview looking like he needed quite a few cups of coffee.

Y’all. My guy looks like he didn’t sleep at all.

Michael Strahan greets him so enthusiastically. “Stetson, good morning my friend. How are you feeling after that incredible performance last night? Have you had a chance to get any sleep?”

We all know the answer is no. But Stetson says “You know, a few hours. Um, not many. Been wondering about…yeah, no, not many.”

Not many, huh? Yeah, this face definitely looks like less than one.

So I guess “not many” is an accurate way to describe this? Get that boy some coffee. Maybe some Pedialyte, too? The party isn’t stopping anytime soon.

Twitter had so many jokes about this. Poor Stetson.

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Justin Fields not ready to make a decision on spring season at Ohio State

Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields told Good Morning America that he’s taking any decision to play a spring season “day by day” Wednesday.

Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields is a sure-fire early of the first-round NFL draft pick for 2021. Despite it all, he’s fighting to compete for himself and his teammates this fall by pushing the Big Ten hard to overturn its decision to postpone the fall season.

However, if that doesn’t happen, then there’s the real scenario apparently that the Big Ten will do its best to have a spring season. It’s true that there are all kinds of hurdles to clear in order for that to happen, but that’s the plan most of the league is working towards now.

That means a potential spring season would ram right against the 2021 NFL Draft, one in which Fields would need to prepare himself for. There are reports out there that the NFL might be willing to move the draft back a bit, but it’s still going to be a tight squeeze.

So what will Fields do if there is a spring season? He’s been rather mum on it to date, but he was asked that very question while appearing on Good Morning America on Wednesday morning. His response didn’t really give you the warm, fuzzy feeling if you’re a Buckeye fan, but it also didn’t kill the prospects of seeing that No. 1 jersey carve up opposing defenses when the snow turns to sleet in Ohio.

“Right now I’m just taking it day by day,” Fields told Good Morning America. “One thing I’ve learned over this whole process is that things can change daily. So I’ve kinda just taken each day at a time, so I haven’t really thought about that — but hopefully — I’ll come up with a decision if that happens, and just pray about it, really.”

So there you have it, or not. You can’t blame the former Heisman finalist for the boilerplate answer here because there are just too many unknowns. However, he’s been so bent on getting a season off the ground for the “love of the game,” that I wouldn’t discount his willingness to give it one more run no matter when that happens.

In case you missed it, here is Fields’ complete appearance on the morning talk show Tuesday.

 

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WATCH: Justin Fields appears on Good Morning America to continue to fight for fall football season

Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields appeared on Good Morning America on Wednesday morning to continue the fight to play football this fall.

If anyone though Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields was going to go quietly into the night on this push for a fall Big Ten football season, they were clearly mistaken. Fields started on an online petition for the Big Ten to reverse its decision to postpone the season to the spring. It now has almost 280,000 signatures and counting.

He then went on ESPN radio to defend his actions and apply further pressure on the commissioner Kevin Warren and Big Ten officials. And now, this morning, he had another appearance on national television with Good Morning America to keep fighting the good fight.

Fields sat down with host Michael Strahan to answer questions on why he started the online petition, what he thinks about player safety, and why he would risk injury and play when he’s already projected to be a top pick in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

You can watch and listen to the entire segment by clicking on the below video shared to Good Morning America’s Twitter profile.

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I know the Big Ten hopes that this will all smooth over, but with Fields as the face of the movement, that’s not likely to happen anytime soon.

 

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.

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Michael Jordan opens up about final championship season on ABC’s Good Morning America (Hoopshype)

NBA great Michael Jordan is peeling back the curtain on his final championship season with the Chicago Bulls.

NBA great Michael Jordan is peeling back the curtain on his final championship season with the Chicago Bulls.