Honorary Captain of the Week Highlight: TJ Baldwin of the Richmond Spiders in the Spotlight 🍋

As we enter the third week of the third season of the Northwestern Mutual x FCS Nation x Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Challenge, FCS Nation is introducing defensive lineman TJ Baldwin of the University of Richmond. Baldwin is the third honorary captain of the week in a series spotlighting the powerful impact that athletes who have chosen to take a stand against childhood cancer have had on the movement since its inception just two years ago.

Full Interview: https://www.fcsnationradio.com/podcast/episode/33ce8c81/honorary-captain-of-the-week-tj-baldwin-of-the-richmond-spiders

Alex’s Lemonade Stand, founded and sustained by Liz Scott, began when Scott’s late daughter Alexandra was diagnosed with neuroblastoma right before turning a year old. At the age of 4, Alex expressed her wish to start a lemonade stand to raise money for other kids like her. Since her passing in 2004, Alex has inspired lemonade stands across the world to raise funds for other children who fight relentlessly every day.

Baldwin, a Virginia native, is in his junior year as a Spider. With 12 total career tackles, 6 solo tackles, 6 assisted tackles, and one career sack, Baldwin isn’t just an athlete. He has also pledged to be the face of a cause for children like Alex, in his second year as an honorary captain, where he helped raise a little over $6,000 on his behalf.

“I’m blessed to be back, and I’m really shooting to get more community engagement in all of this,” Baldwin said in an interview with FCS Nation. After returning from an injury that put him out for the remainder of this past season, Baldwin said this is his chance to come back even better. “I was really down in the dumps when it first happened,” Baldwin said. “Me getting hurt was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.”

Athletes like Baldwin are the face of this cause with FCS Nation for their humble approach to overcoming the kinds of challenges that come with an injury in a sport like football. “There’s a level of grit to when they commit to doing something, they put 100% of their effort into it and they have a natural ability to attract others to that cause,” said Jordan Stevenson, financial officer and development officer with the Virginia office at Northwestern Mutual.

This partnership stands out against other NIL deals in the way it, at its core, stands for something bigger than one person or one deal. “And that’s exactly how I see it. It’s also definitely more so about pushing a positive message and spreading awareness for Alex’s Lemonade Stand,” Baldwin said.

To donate on behalf of Baldwin, all it takes is snapping a pic with a lemon on your head, tagging Alex’s Lemonade Stand and Northwestern Mutual, and using the hashtags #OneRichmond and #LemonTopChallenge. For each post, Northwestern Mutual automatically donates $10 in Baldwin’s name.