Sports Speakers 360 Secures Joe Thomas, AJ Hawk, DeAngelo Williams and Fred Lynn for Virtual Event

Cleveland Browns Great, Joe Thomas

Due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations are foregoing in-person meetings and fundraisers and are instead hosting virtual events. Sports Speakers 360 was recently contacted by a leading cloud solutions company about their interest in hiring virtual speakers for a series of events as a way for them to stay engaged with current and prospective clients. Sports Speakers 360 put together a list of athlete suggestions based on their budget and markets and ultimately secured four athletes…retired Cleveland Browns great Joe Thomas, retired U. of Memphis and NFL running back DeAngelo Williams, retired Boston Red Sox outfielder Fred Lynn and retired Ohio State and NFL linebacker AJ Hawk.

Each event consisted of a 45-minute moderated interview that was comprised of questions generated by Sports Speakers 360 and the client and culminated with questions submitted by attendees. Topics ranged from stories from the athlete’s career to motivational topics such as teamwork and leadership to advice about how to stay positive and overcome adversity in trying times such as these.

Joe Thomas, who played offensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns from 2007-2017 and was a 10-time Pro Bowl selection, talked to attendees in Cleveland about his career with the Browns and leading through challenging times. He also talked about playing at the University of Wisconsin and some of the values that were instilled in him at a young age that helped during a career that will likely culminate with induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Fred Lynn, who played in the outfield for the Boston Red Sox from 1974-1980 and was a nine-time All-Star and the 1975 American League MVP,  shared some entertaining stories with the Boston crowd about his time playing with the Red Sox and with Hall of Famers such as Carl Yastrzemski  and Jim Rice, his interactions with the great Ted Williams and his love of Fenway Park.

DeAngelo Williams: 7,573 career all-purpose yards running back.

DeAngelo Williams, who played running back at the University of Memphis from 2002-2005 and set the NCAA all-time mark for all-purpose yards in a career with  7,573, interacted with the Memphis attendees and talked about growing up in a small town in Arkansas, memories from his days with the Tigers and NFL, where he enjoyed an 11-year career with Carolina and Pittsburgh. He also talked about the motivation behind starting the DeAngelo Williams Foundation and providing free mammograms in memory of his mother and relatives who died from breast cancer.

Super Bowl Champion and two-time All-American linebacker, AJ Hawk

AJ Hawk , who was a two-time All-American linebacker at Ohio State before embarking on an 9-year career with the Green Bay Packers, interacted with Columbus, Ohio audience members about his memories playing for Ohio State, including the Michigan rivalry, and in the NFL for the Packers, where he won a Super Bowl. He also talked about the challenges facing college football and the Big Ten Conference in trying to play a season during the pandemic.

Let’s face it, nothing replaces a live event. But with the pandemic continuing and current restrictions regarding large gatherings across the country, that’s just not feasible in a lot of places right now. As a result, virtual events are a viable alternative and great way to keep your sales team motivated, engage current clients and build relationships with new ones. Plus, most sports celebrities charge a bit less for virtual events than they do for in-person events.

Since the pandemic started, Sports Speakers 360 has worked with many corporate and non-profit clients in securing virtual guest speakers for events. We know what works and what doesn’t and we’re happy to share our expertise with you. We can also advise you about virtual platforms and which ones we’ve found work best along with the suggested format as sometimes a moderated q&a format works better than a traditional keynote. Additionally, we would be happy to negotiate a quantity of autographs for you to use as part of a raffle or give to executives or clients.

Sports Speakers 360 offers one of the largest databases of sports celebrities in the country Whether you’re interested in a current coach, Super Bowl MVP, Hall of Fame baseball great or Olympic gold medalist, Sports Speakers 360 can find a sports celebrity that fits your budget and appeals to your audience. For more information about booking speakers for virtual events, please contact us today at (303) 747-4087.