By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Jovante Moffatt clearly hasn’t forgotten where he came from.
And he’s already giving back to those who helped him reach his current great heights.
Moffatt, an All-Stater on Union City’s back-to-back state football championship teams in 2013-14 and now a member of the Cleveland Browns, has donated Under Armour cleats and other goods to the Tornado high school and middle school programs, as well as the Jr. Tornado League.
A semi trailer unloaded 13 pallets filled with boxes of cleats of various sizes and colors, football gloves, masks and hand sanitizer Wednesday at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Northwest Tennessee, where Moffatt was also a member during an influential time in his life.
The Golden Tornado program, as well as several others in the area, will benefit from Moffatt’s kindness, as will the local B&G organization, which will put to good usage the masks and hand sanitizer.
UCHS head football coach Nick Markle, along with NTB&G Clubs Chief Executive Officer Tracy Boucher, helped sort through many of the boxes Wednesday, while members of the Tornado program also assisted with that task and will do so with distribution of the goods in the next few days.
Former Northwest CPO Ron Green – now the chief executive officer of Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tar River (NC) Region – helped Moffatt navigate the gesture and has continued to mentor him through his journey from Union City to Middle Tennessee State University and now the pro football ranks.
Green’s Under Armour contacts helped make Moffatt’s wish become reality quickly, the deal finalized this past Monday night before the Browns faced Baltimore in a nationally televised game.
“(Jo) Vante called me and told me he wanted to give back to the places that were instrumental in him getting to where he is now,” Green said. “Obviously, the Union City football program and Boys and Girls Club and the coaches and people in those organizations kept him on the right track to realize his dream.
“I told him, ‘The (UC) football program gave you a platform to advance to the collegiate level and the club was always there for you.’ That makes it a natural reaction for anyone to want to give back when you’re in the situation he is right now.”
Moffatt went undrafted out of MTSU, but quickly was signed by Cleveland to its practice squad soon after the draft was completed last spring. He was promoted to the Browns’ 53-man roster in late September, becoming the first UCHS graduate ever to make the pro ranks, and has been a member of Cleveland’s special teams unit since arriving on the big stage.
He enjoyed a stellar career on the prep level for the Purple and Gold, widely considered the best pure athlete on a pair of teams that won 29 straight and back-to-back Class 1A state titles. He followed that up by shining in the MTSU secondary for three years after signing with the Blue Raiders.
Soft-spoken but with a contagious smile, Moffatt was noted by pro scouts to have great hips – a trait synonymous among NFL defensive backs.
His giving nature comes naturally, too, according to Green.
“He (Moffatt) was so excited to be able to do this,” Green insisted. “He knows that when you can give back, you give others the chance to live out their dreams like he is.
“First and foremost, he remembered his own situation and just wanted to make sure all the kids had their own cleats. He knows that if it weren’t for some generous men in the area, he wouldn’t have had any back when he first started playing.”
Understandably, Markle was grateful for Moffatt’s generosity.
“When one of your own does something like this, it really makes you swell with pride,” the Union City skipper said. “It says so much about the size of Jovante’s heart, his love for his alma mater and his willingness to share his good fortune.
“It’ll truly be a case of Christmas coming early for some of our kids because of him doing this. It’s a very generous gift, and it will help our program at every level for years to come. And it just gives me another chance to say what I say every day: It’s great to be a Golden Tornado.”
Photo: Moffatt, left, with a portion of his donation to UC Schools.