Jason McKie has been with the Chicago Bears since 2003 and has been a starting fullback since 2006. We may know some of Jason's stats on the field, but #37 has even more impressive stats off the field. McKie earned the highest GPA among senior football players in high school and made the Athletic Director's Academic list his junior year at Temple. More recently, Jason has been raising money for his Foundation, which focuses on helping military families. Jason is giving of his time, working hard in all facets of life; he expresses the attributes of a true role model.

Deborah Martinez:
What is the role that you contribute in giving back to your community or to anyone in particular, whether it is with your foundation or charity, or anything?

Jason McKie:
My charity is actually called the Jason McKie foundation and we focus in areas like education and wellness, but our main focus is giving back to military families. Families which have had their mother or father over in Iraq or Afghanistan we like to do things to raise money to give back to those children and just help those families because I think that's something that we as Americans forget that there's a war going on over there and I think it's important that we show our appreciation for their efforts over there.

Photography by Scott Wallem at Pro Case

DM: Do you want to say a little something about the event that you just had?
JM: Right, we just had an event it was May 14 it was called The Celebowl which was a celebrity bowling event that I held. It actually was an event in which different sponsors came out and bought lanes and people came out and bought individual tickets. We reserved lanes for military personnel they came and got to bowl with my teammates and other celebrities that I had there and all the proceeds are being divided up and are going to military families, it was a big success and I appreciate everyone coming out and showing their support

DM: Who was your biggest influence growing up as an athlete?
JM: My favorite player was Jerome Bettis, I used to watch him and study him when he was back at Notre Dame and I always was him when I was playing football. It's crazy we actually played Pittsburgh one year and we played against each other and that was the first time actually met him. It was a big deal for me he was such a positive influence you never saw his name scrolled across the bottom and ESPN getting in trouble and he's definitely a positive influence for me.

DM: Did anyone ever used to call you minibus?
JM: (laughs) Yea, they used to in high school, they used to call me Mac-Truck or The Bus, a whole bunch if different things.

DM: How important is the role of family in your success?
JM: Oh it's really important. Family is like your foundation, without my mother and father and my sister being my backbone and my support system I wouldn’t be where I am at today all my success is attributed to how they raised made and in everything that they instilled in me. They're always there, always supportive of me; where I am at today I owe to them.

DM: How do you manage to stay out of the negative headlines?
JM: For me I’ve just never been that type of person to be going out and doing the wrong things. I don’t ever put myself in bad situations where trouble may find me. I think a lot of times athletes aren’t going out to get in trouble on purpose; I think trouble finds them. So, I think that as an athlete you’ve got to try to separate yourself from those bad apples or if you have friends that are bad apples you’ve got to kind of separate yourself from them, because ultimately if somebody gets in trouble your name is gonna be the first name to be in the paper or on the news.

DM: What is the hardest part about being a professional athlete?
JM: I would say saying no. I hate to say it but people always want something from you, like in my face people always want money or something; like relatives or people you haven’t talked to a longtime always want something or always want to be at your event or if you do something for one person in your family then you got to do something for all these people, that’s the hardest thing for me, to say no. That's something I think you kind of learn over time. I know that when I first started out I was like okay you can have this, I said yes to everybody, but now I’m OK saying no to people who have their hand out.

DM: Out of all the levels that you have played at, which coach was your biggest influence and why?
JM: Oh man that's tough, it’s hard for me to pinpoint just one particular coach. I've got a few of them: my high school coach was really instrumental in my career he really taught me what it was to be a good football player, he taught me how to study film and study plays he really taught me how to be a professional before I became a professional. And my college coach, he played in the league for a few years, and he really taught us like we were in the NFL when we were in college so I think that really helped me. The coach I have now, Tim Spencer, our running back coach he's always been there for me and he’s taught me so many things that's really helping elevate my game, so I’d say those three coaches.

DM: If you could tell all of the first year pros one thing, what would it be?
JM: I would tell them that coming from college it’s a job now, it’s not like your going to class, go to practice then go out and party. It is a job, and management treats it as a job so you’ve got to treat it as a job. You’ve got to go in there and your job is to study your job is to know all your plays and you've really got be a professional. It’s not fun anymore like in college.

DM: When did you first fall in love with football?
JM: When I first fell in love with football was when I was six years old. It’s funny because everyone always asks me if my dad used to play football and if I used to watch him, but my mom actually played flag football and I used to go to her flag football games and that's where I really started liking football, watching her play.

DM: What is your most memorable moment as an athlete?
JM: There's a lot of them but the most memorable one is winning the NFC championship game and actually knowing that we were going to the Super Bowl and that a lot of hard work paid off for us to make it there, I mean we didn’t win the Super Bowl, but just to get there is an honor in itself, a lot of athletes don’t get an opportunity to play in it that was definitely my most memorable moment, just to get to play in it.

Photography by Scott Wallem at Pro Case

DM: Do you think that athletes should be more involved in their church and community and if they were that would help quell some of the negative stereotypes?
JM: Yeah I think athletes should definitely be involved in the community or their church or anything positive whether they like it or not athletes in any sport are considered role models and kids look up to them, people look up to them, people want to be around them. So, if you carry yourself in a positive manner that will generate more positive effects of the athletes. A lot of people look and say, ‘oh athletes get in trouble,’ they always show the bad things that we do they never show the good things that we do, and there are a lot of good things that we are doing. Definitely athletes should be involved, because it will help bring people to church, and they should be involved with different foundations; just your name and you being a professional athlete people want to be around you and people will donate for anything just because you're involved, so I think that’s a must for an athlete.

We look forward to seeing Jason McKie at the 1st Annual Purpose Driven Sports, August 10th!