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Catching Up With Former New York Giants’ Super Bowl Champion Shaun O’Hara

By Nafisa H

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On Monday night, while the New York Giants were playing the Philadelphia Eagles, I had the honor of speaking with Super Bowl Champion, three-time Pro-Bowler, former New York Giants center Shaun O’Hara as he partnered with former Giant Tiki Barber‘s Thuzio Executive Club to host a game-watch event that benefited his charity, The Shaun O’Hara Foundation. O’Hara touched on a variety of subjects during our conversation including his foundation’s efforts and his thoughts on his former team. 

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As a center for the New York Giants, Shaun O’Hara spent years hiking the ball. Now, he’s focusing on a different type of hike. His foundation’s main goal is Helping Increasing Knowledge and Education (H.I.K.E.) of life threatening diseases which there is limited funding available, mainly Cystic Fibrosis.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a life-threatening, genetic disease in which a defective gene causes a thick buildup of mucus in the lungs which leads to persistent lung infections and progressively limits the patient’s ability to breathe. About 30,000 people are living with cystic fibrosis in the United States with approximately 1,000 new cases of CF being diagnosed each year. Sadder than the fact that the average life expectancy for the illness is 37.5 years old is that cystic fibrosis receives no government funding for research.

With the need for raising funds and awareness for this cause, Shaun O’Hara partnered with his former teammate Tiki Barber to host a game watch event. The event, which also featured former New York Giants Chris Snee and Rich Seubert, just so happened to also be the 100th event for the Thuzio Executive Club, a startup that Barber co-founded to help businesses book athletes.

Just how did Shaun O’Hara get involved with the cystic fibrosis cause? “Well, I met a young boy named Sean who had cystic fibrosis and I met him through his father,” O’Hara explained. “They were looking for ambassadors to help out with the cause and that was really my introduction to it. And I met him and then I met another girl named Belle who had cystic fibrosis and I really just kinda felt an immediate draw to these kids and to the cause and the plight of their families. So it really motivated me to want to help out and want to do more.”

Of course, I had to ask the current NFL Network analyst about how he feels watching his former team play and what he thinks has turned around for them this season. Shaun’s answer?

“Well, number one, they’re learning how to finish games and they’re 3-2 right now sitting on top of the division which is great. The reality is they could be 5-0. Their two losses that they had they were ahead in the fourth quarter. I think it’s great to see how well Eli’s playing; he’s obviously a huge factor Odell Beckham is certainly exciting but I think the real surprise of this team this season has been the defense. Despite all the injuries that they’ve had they continue to find ways to shut down the run game, find ways to make plays, and that really is exciting to watch I know from a former player and for Giants fans as well.”

It’s unfortunate that the New York Giants team that found ways to finish games, shut down the run game, and make plays didn’t show up on Monday night but nonetheless, it was a great evening for the former Giant and his foundation as he joined his former teammates to shed light on an important cause.

To find out more about The Shaun O’Hara Foundation, click here.

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