Another Special Olympics day at the NFL Draft

The NFL Foundation and Special Olympics continued their partnership on another memorable NFL Draft day.

Special Olympics and the NFL continued to make memories and shine a light on inclusion at the 2022 NFL Draft. For the fifth year in a row, a Special Olympics athlete was given the opportunity to announce a draft pick. This year there were two athletes who shared the honor.

Samantha Aslin and Christine McCullough are good friends and have been Special Olympic athletes for 25 and 27 years respectively. They are both from Nevada.

FanSided had a chance to talk with Aslin and her inspirational Mom Jan Aslin leading up to the draft. The two are a powerful duo with Mom teaching her daughter to have a can-do attitude at a very early age —  “there is no can’t.”

Aslin has participated in nearly every sport played at the Special Olympics. This summer she will be competing in bowling at the Special Olympic USA Games in Orlando from June 5-12. McCullough has won gold in track and field on the 4×100 relay team in Dubai. She also owns a bronze medal in shot put and silver medal in the 100m run.

Aslin and McCullough will always remember both the Dallas Cowboys and Wisconsin tight end Jake Ferguson who was selected in the fourth round, No. 129 overall, when the two Special Olympic athletes were on the clock. The two were greeted by the always enthusiastic draft day crowd.

Special Olympics has a long history with the NFL and the NFL Draft

Special Olympics partnership with the NFL Foundation has been built into the NFL PLAY 60 initiative, a project which provides athletes with and without intellectual disabilities the opportunity to play on the same team through Unified flag football. The competition is real and so are the life lessons learned.

Aslin and McCullough will always remember their day in the NFL draft sun, but more importantly, the initiative and the spotlight will hopefully continue to make a dent in making the world a better and more inclusive place for one and all.

Why We Play features stories about the power of sports to bring us together, overcome obstacles, make positive change and reach everyone. Read more here.