Building a Foundation

Photography by Grajewski Fotograph Inc.

"Hi. Kelly? It’s Izzy.” 

I recognize the voice immediately, mainly because I’d spoken just minutes before to Israel Idonije, who broke into the NFL in 2003, signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cleveland Browns, and was soon plucked from its practice roster by the Chicago Bears, where he made the team the following year.

Now, the guy known as “The I-Train”, who stares daggers at the opposition just before obliterating them in one violent way or another, is back in Winnipeg for a few days, and some crossed wires have led to a bit of a delay in his agenda. No attitude, no sense of entitlement or tension in his voice. All manners, humility and grace, Izzy–not a publicist or assistant–is calling to ask if I can help get things back on track, which they are within minutes.

The Nigerian-born Idonije had never strapped on football pads until convinced to do so by his coach at Brandon’s Vincent Massey High School. The school was just starting a team. Oh, and Izzy was in Grade 12. 

He went on to a now-legendary career with the University of Manitoba Bisons, during which he was named 2002 Manitoba Male Athlete of the Year before being drafted 17th overall by the Ottawa Renegades in the 2003 CFL Draft.

“Everybody–regardless of your background or social class–has a platform where they can inject some level of positive change into their world and their surroundings.”

History now records that he rightly had his heart set on the NFL, but the thing about Izzy that is more revealing of the man is that while he was studying, training, practicing and playing at the U of M, he was also running an after- school program.

See, as different a player as he is, Israel Idonije is an even more different guy. Maybe different is not the right word, because he’s as down-to-earth and regular as they come. Congratulate him on his nomination for the NFL’s 2010 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, and he’ll thank you and tell you it was pretty cool. But ask him about one of the reasons he was nominated, and you can almost hear his pulse quicken at the other end of the line, because now you’re in the I-Train’s station, talking about what will quite obviously be his life’s work.

He’s in town this week visiting schools of disadvantaged kids, doing the work of the Israel Idonije Foundation (IIF), which he founded in 2007. The foundation slogan, Together We Succeed, speaks to the team concept Izzy has infused into the work. When it is suggested that the NFL nomination, while flattering, is probably not as rewarding as the things he accomplishes with the IIF, Izzy responds, “They all kind of go hand-in-hand. The work that we do with the foundation is number one–it’s everything. I’m really just a small piece of the puzzle; we have doctors, teachers, principals, volunteers, our staff, and all of the awards and accolades, for me, are really just an opportunity to highlight an incredible team of people who make what we do possible.”

The IIF exists–so says its website–“to extend positive, life-changing opportunities to families and individuals in economically disadvantaged communities on a local and global scale. IIF promotes the pursuit of education and knowledge, while providing programs for youth and community members in hope that they may actualize and maximize their full potential.”

To that end, the foundation runs a number of programs. First Down is a program for sixth and seventh graders in Chicago and Winnipeg–known as IZZYz KIDz–designed to encourage scholastic attendance and achievement. Izzy hosts his annual All-Star Football and Cheer Camp in both cities to encourage athletic participation. In 2008, the foundation developed C.A.R.E. (Caring, Advancing, Restoring and Educating Africa) to provide medical health-care services, clean water and youth sports empowerment programs to underprivileged residents over there. The foundation also honours a program called Street Love, founded when Izzy was a kid by Henry and Choice, his missionary parents, whom he credits with instilling a philosophy of service in their son right out of the womb.

“They did a tremendous job of raising me to understand that the world is bigger than just me,” he emphasizes, “and that a part of making our world better is just doing what we can with what we have. Everybody–regardless of your background or social class–has a platform where they can inject some level of positive change into their world and their surroundings. My entire life, I watched my parents do it with the very little they had, trying and working at and affecting and inspiring and being that positive influence on many lives. Now that I have this tremendous platform that I have in my position, it’s a part of who I am, what I know and what I grew up in.”

While community service is in his DNA, it’s also abundantly clear that Izzy’s efforts don’t come out of a sense of duty. He’s a man who–for all of the largesse and pomp of the gridiron on Sunday afternoon–is blessed with an ability to appreciate the subtle flavours of his efforts off the field. “You know,” he responds when asked what he gets out of his work with the IIF, “when I go on trips to Africa to work with orphanages, and with the school programs, when all of that is said and done, and you’ve laughed with the kids and teachers, you see a school culture go from being mediocre to being rejuvenated, you walk away from that with a real feeling of fulfillment. It’s one of those rare instances where you can get that feeling that you’ve been a part of something special.”

It’s with that same sensibility that he fondly recalls his five years as a university football player living in Winnipeg. “I was 17 when I started at the U of M, with all of the hopes and aspirations of a young team with our coaching staff, and it was just a great relationship with the school and with the city throughout that period. It really kind of laid the groundwork for a lot of the life lessons that I’ve experienced. I learned things like perseverance, and how to work hard and to work through ups and downs–some great experiences and life lessons that came out of my experience at the University of Manitoba.”

He doesn’t get back to town very often, but when he does, Izzy tries to get to his favorite Winnipeg restaurant, 529 Wellington, although you’re just as likely to see him at one of the haunts he and his teammates used to frequent back in the day, namely Boston Pizza or Earls. Most nights, he says, they were either at the gym, or hanging out with the fellas in one of their parents’ basements.

Today, he’s back in a classroom, this time as principal-for-the-day at Sister MacNamara School. And the kids, they sit wide-eyed as the I-Train, the NFL star they watch trucking fools on Sunday afternoons, does what he’s always done.

Israel Idonije is trying to give them a hand up. 

Check out the foundation on the web: www.teamiif.org. 

Watch for a documentary piece on Izzy Idonije and his work off the field, produced by Winnipeg’s CLG Communications Inc, on MTS TV Winnipeg on Demand soon.