You could say Matt Waldman is a football guy. After all he is a featur
ed writer on www.footballguys.com. He also authors his own blog at www.mattwaldmanrsp.com. With almost 60,000 followers of his expert analysis of college prospects and the NFL Draft, serious football folks are eager to hear what Matt has to say. His highly coveted publication, The Rookie Scouting Profile, is eagerly anticipated each year by football writers, fantasy football enthusiasts, and hardcore football fans who follow the draft with rabid enthusiasm.
And so it is that this football guy came to D2L looking for a partner in his quest to give back. You see Matt is more than just a football guy. He’s one that cares deeply about the issue of child sexual abuse and one that believes wholeheartedly in the concept of giving back.
We recently spoke with Matt about why the issue of CSA and why D2L and we share with you his truly inspirational messages.
D2L: What is it that makes you passionate about this issue?
Matt: I have become close to people over the course of my life who were victims of sexual abuse. These men and women were abused as children by other men and women that were authority figures that society tells us to feel the greatest safety in their company: mothers, fathers, uncles, grandparents, step-parents, teachers, and coaches. The impact of the physical and – most notably to me – emotional abuse is something that goes far beyond the victim’s personal life. What I experienced as someone close to them was often difficult enough. In my opinion, intolerance and sexual abuse are the too most insidious problems in our society. The sooner we quell these epidemics by supplying our communities with knowledge and encouraging communication, the better off we’ll all be.
D2L: What is the Rookie Scouting Portfolio?
Matt: I’m writer by trade and one of my main subject areas in the freelance portion of my career is football. I write about football and fantasy football for a variety of sites, including Footballguys.com, Footballoutsiders.com, the New York Times Fifth Down Blog, and of course, my own blog. The Rookie Scouting Portfolio is an annual online publication devoted to the study of NFL Draft prospects at the offensive skill positions of quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and tight end. What makes the RSP unique is that I’m transparent with my evaluation process. In addition to the more refined analysis in the first 175 pages of the publication, I also provide my play-by-play film analysis to the reader, which often spans as much as 800 additional pages of work. It sounds a little nutty, but my readers love the opportunity to know why I have my overall takes and they tell me it helps them learn a lot more about the techniques and strategies involved with the game of football.
D2L: Why did you decide to donate 10 percent of RSP sales to D2L?
Matt: I used to do a lot of community service as a teen and unfortunately, I never continued it. Life got in the way for me. As writing became my sole vocation, I made the conscious decision that I wanted to find a way to use my career to give back. When the Penn State/Jerry Sandusky case came to light, I decided it was a perfect opportunity to give my growing community of loyal readers incentive to give back. I chose D2L because I believe its mission is aligned with what needs to be done in order to stop sexual abuse from happening as rampantly as it does.
I won’t lie, pledging to donate 10 percentage of funds from sales to an organization designed to do good in the community is a good marketing decision. However, I see it as a win-win and I intend to continue giving back to D2L for as long as I am authoring the publication. The intrinsic satisfaction I’m paying for training of an adult for every $10 I give far outweighs what I get back financially.
Thank you Matt for lending your voice to this issue and for financially supporting the efforts to end child sexual abuse. We truly thank you for your friendship and your support.
