Nov. 23 – Dec. 6, 2025
Welcome to issue four hundred and seventy-nine of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. What saved a heartbroken 14-year NFL veteran? It’s magic (The Athletic)
2. Betty Wold Johnson Foundation Provides $1 Million Grant to ECAC to Launch College’s Largest Women’s Flag Football League (New York Jets)
3. For the next two weeks, NFL players are wearing their philanthropic passion on their cleats (CNN)
4. DeSean Jackson elevated Delaware State’s visibility, pride in Year 1 as head football coach (Andscape)
5. Age is just a number: How Emma Mazzenga is redefining athletic longevity at 92 years old (CNN)
6. ‘Origin Story: The 85ers’ doc traces forgotten roots of first USWNT (USA Today)
7. How legendary historian Robert Caro is fueling OKC’s title run (ESPN)
8. Three reasons why the sports industry should care more about environmental sustainability (Infront)
9. LeBron James says his assist was ‘the perfect way’ for scoring streak to end (New York Times)
10. Anne Flower, the doctor who breaks ultramarathon records between ER shifts (New York Times)


10+
Athletes Voices Shape UNESCO’s Global Policy Standards for Inclusive, Equitable and Safe Sport (UNESCO)
https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/athletes-voices-shape-unescos-global-policy-standards-inclusive-equitable-and-safe-sport
Sport Isn’t Obliged to Save the World. We Are. (Nick Keller)
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sport-isnt-obliged-save-world-we-nick-keller-xbeqe/
100 Years of Love in 5 Years of Life (by CJ Carr) (The Players’ Tribune)
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/cj-carr-notre-dame-football
World Cup 2026: FIFA needs to act on human rights (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/world-cup-2026-fifa-needs-act-human-rights
BlazeSports America fosters inclusive environments for young people through adaptive sports (Laureus)
https://www.laureus.com/news/blazesports-america-fosters-inclusive-environments-for-young-people-through-adaptive-sports


We present again our “Featured Video” offering(s). With the explosion of video content out there highlighting the good in sport, we want to showcase such content for your enjoyment and learning. This will be an ongoing effort. And now we add podcasts!

Women In Sport Are Redefining Athletic Boundaries (MSN)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/women-in-sport-are-redefining-athletic-boundaries/vi-AA1LD2oZ
Michele Kang and Cindy Parlow Cone are reshaping women’s soccer (CNBC Sport)
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2025/12/03/cnbc-sport-michele-kang-and-cindy-parlow-cone-reshape-womens-soccer.html

Introduction
One of the great things about sports is that it gives us purpose, whether we are doing an individual sport like running or on a team playing basketball. We are driven to achieve, whether it is simply beating yesterday’s 5K time or aiming to win the NBA Championship, like the Los Angeles Lakers.

As my peer group and I continue to age, we increasingly have conversations about health. It is funny in a way, talking to a friend you played soccer with for a decade 40 years ago and you greet each other with a “How’s your health?” Thankfully, the conversations are peppered with comments about still playing soccer or running or trying a new sport like pickleball, or “playing 18,” a reference to golf.

It is no doubt frustrating to get older and not be as active as we were when we were in our 20’s and 30’s. But that is how life works and instead of getting upset, the best of us stay focused on “just doing it” and setting new goals and objectives.

This week I highlight two “legends of longevity,” one you probably know and another who I will introduce you to. The familiar face here is that of LeBron James, who has been an elite pro basketball player for more years (23) than he has not been. He continues to excel and while there are some signs of slowing down (a tiny bit) he is still an elite performer and a wonder to watch on the court. In the article, “LeBron James says his assist was ‘the perfect way’ for scoring streak to end,” in the New York Times we learn about the end of one of LeBron’s many records and the great way it happened.

In addition to the 40-year-old LeBron, there is Emma Mazzenga, 50 years his senior. This star athlete excels on the track, setting world records in short to mid-distances. In CNN’s piece, “Age is just a number: How Emma Mazzenga is redefining athletic longevity at 92 years old” we are introduced to the compelling story of an athlete who has scientists trying to learn from her how we can age better. Emma’s story is a great and fun one. Her quotes in the story reflect the purpose-driven life she leads, staying active as an athlete and as a human being. I have always been a LeBron fan and am excited to add Emma to my group of favorite athletes/people.

Please continue to send along your stories. You are both our audience and the best source of stories. Our Twitter handle is @sportsdoinggood, and you can find us at www.facebook.com/sportsdoinggood and on Instagram.

If you think others would like to receive the newsletter, please feel free to forward it on or have them contact us directly at sab@sportsdoinggood.com. (If you do not want to receive the newsletter anymore you can use the Unsubscribe button at the end of the email).

So, enjoy. And have a good week.

What saved a heartbroken 14-year NFL veteran? It’s magic (The Athletic)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6780425/2025/11/20/jon-dorenbos-nfl-philadelphia-eagles/

Betty Wold Johnson Foundation Provides $1 Million Grant to ECAC to Launch College’s Largest Women’s Flag Football League (New York Jets)
https://www.newyorkjets.com/news/jets-ecac-flag-football-league-announcement-12-02-2025

For the next two weeks, NFL players are wearing their philanthropic passion on their cleats (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/23/sport/football-nfl-my-cause-my-cleats-feature

DeSean Jackson elevated Delaware State’s visibility, pride in Year 1 as head football coach (Andscape)
https://andscape.com/features/desean-jackson-elevated-delaware-states-visibility-pride-in-year-1-as-head-football-coach/

Age is just a number: How Emma Mazzenga is redefining athletic longevity at 92 years old (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/27/sport/athletics-emma-mazzenga-redefining-longevity-92-intl

‘Origin Story: The 85ers’ doc traces forgotten roots of first USWNT (USA Today)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/national/2025/12/04/1985-uswnt-documentary-orgin-story/87596220007/

How legendary historian Robert Caro is fueling OKC’s title run (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47095675/how-legendary-presidential-historian-robert-caro-quietly-fueling-sam-presti-okc-championship-rise

Three reasons why the sports industry should care more about environmental sustainability (Infront)
https://www.infront.sport/blog/why-the-sports-industry-should-care-more-about-environmental-sustainability

LeBron James says his assist was ‘the perfect way’ for scoring streak to end (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6864270/2025/12/05/lebron-james-scoring-streak-ends/

Anne Flower, the doctor who breaks ultramarathon records between ER shifts (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6839510/2025/12/04/anne-flower-ultrarunner-interview/

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Our goal is to have Sports Doing Good be a portal housing original content and excerpts from and links to the increasing number of articles, websites, video, and other media that showcase the good in sports and society. We aim to celebrate those concepts, activities, events, and individuals by highlighting them for a wider audience. Much of the news today, whether sports- related or not, is incredibly negative and increasingly polarizing, biased, and quite annoying. We are trying to refocus some of the discussion on the good, with a focus on sports.

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Sarbjit “Sab” Singh
sab@sportsdoinggood.com
516-287-7141
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