Jason Witten Is The Man

This weekend, I'll be filming the second part of the Female Fan Gameday Rituals video for the Dallas Cowboys that I talked about last week.  We will be filming at the Patriots vs. Dallas game this weekend. Although CB is a diehard Cowboys fan, let's not forget that he thinks Tom Brady is the GLA. I'm pretty sure he is downright giddy that he gets to go with me on Sunday.

Today though, I want to talk about my favorite Cowboy of all time, a man who I think should be a candidate for the GLA. You guys know that I live sleep eat breathe the Vols on Saturday, and the Cowboys on Sunday, so it should come as no surprise to anyone that my favorite player is Jason Witten. Yup, for those of you that didn't know, Witten was a Tennessee Volunteer from 2000-2002. 

Jason and me at the ACM Awards

I once wrote a post that Andrew Luck is the new Tim Tebow, but I could have easily written about Jason Witten in that post instead. We all know that Witten is one of the greatest Tight Ends of all time, but let me tell you a little bit about Witten's past. The past that has shaped his present and has absolutely nothing to do with football. 

Witten grew up in an abusive household. His father had an alcohol and drug problem, and Jason, as a little boy, watched his father beat his mother and his siblings. He experienced domestic violence and abuse first hand. When he was 11, his mother fled 400 miles away to her parent's home. It was there that Jason's grandfather changed the course of his life, and introduced him to football. 

Witten has committed his adult life working to break the cycle of domestic violence. Jason Witten's SCORE Foundation has launched numerous outreach programs in both Texas and Tennessee. Five years ago, the SCOREkeepers program was launched, which places full-time, trained male mentors in battered women's shelters. Their goal is to demonstrate positive male behavior to the children living in those shelters, and break the cycle of violence in families plagued by abuse. He also has a program called, "Coaching Boys Into Men" which trains coaches to educate their players on the dangers of dating violence. These are just a couple of his many, many, many programs to END domestic violence. There's a whole E:60 Jason Witten Tough episode you must watch, if you haven't already.

There are about 82 different reasons that Jason Witten is my favorite player (see what I did there?!?) of all time. Ok ok, we'll call him favorite co-player. I'm sure Jason wouldn't mind if I also include this quarterback that plays for the Denver Broncos that you might know, his name is Peyton.

I'll give you a hint for the Cowboys Female Fan video story line, it involves Jason Witten! Don't get too excited though, I'm pretty sure he won't be in said video, but a girl can dream right?

Follow along this weekend when I go to film at the Cowboys game, via Snapchat and Instagram. Plus, don't forget to link up anything sports related using the hashtag #gamedayvibes!

GO COWBOYS!