Chris Tamasi nominated to Good Works Team

Canton native Chris Tamasi, a junior linebacker on the Amherst College football team, has been nominated for the 2014 Allstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team for his community service work.

Chris Tamasi has shined on and off the football field. (Amherst Athletics photo)

The Allstate AFCA Good Works Team comprises 11 players from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and 11 players from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, III and the NAIA. Last week, Allstate Insurance Company and the AFCA announced a record-breaking 182 nominees from across the country. The prestigious award recognizes players whose charitable involvement and community service contributions stand out among all other student-athletes participating in football.

Tamasi has been an active participant in the community and serves as the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). During his sophomore year, he worked with the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) as an athletic team engagement leader for the football team and was hired by the CCE the following fall as an athletics liaison.

Tamasi also founded his own charity, known as ’Cac Giving Back, a food donation program that allows athletes to deliver non-perishable leftovers from athletic events to the Amherst Survival Center. The pilot program, consisting of only five teams, began last fall and was able to donate around 140 pounds of non-perishable goods to the survival center.

As the president of SAAC, Tamasi helped launch a Milk Fund campaign to support the Amherst Survival Center. After finding out about the survival center’s recent cut in funding for fresh milk, he helped create a marketing campaign with other Amherst athletes, using milk mustaches to raise awareness about the cause. They were able to collect donations in concurrence with the “We Are NESCAC” sportsmanship campaign and were ultimately able to raise $2,300, putting fresh milk on the Amherst Survival Center’s shelves through the summer and into the fall.

Tamasi is also a youth mentor for the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and has been matched with his “little” for two years. Through the football team’s partnership with the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that depends on contributions and help to continue their mission of improving the quality of life of children battling pediatric brain tumors, the Jeffs adopted a boy named Joey in 2008. Tamasi has served as the point person for Joey and his parents.

Athletically, the outside linebacker enjoyed a breakout 2013 season, earning an All-NESCAC First Team Defense selection. He led the conference with 18 tackles for loss and tied for fifth in the league with 4.0 sacks. His 62 total tackles and 53 solo were team-highs as he averaged 7.75 per game.

The final 22 player roster for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team will be announced in September and will be selected by a voting panel consisting of former members of the team as well as prominent college football media members.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=26313

Posted by Canton Citizen on Jul 31 2014. Filed under Beyond CHS, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.