Holt Brothers Host Charity Weekend in Raleigh
Former North Carolina State football players and brothers, safety Terrence and wide receiver Torry Holt, both enjoyed long and successful careers in the National Football league. Since their time in the league ended they have turned their focus towards their Holt Brothers foundationKidsCan! Programs. The foundation provides assistance with communication, education and leadership for children who are dealing with a parent who has cancer.
“It’s been a really good transition. We went from being professional ball players to business men,” said Torry Holt. “Now we have more time to be active in our cause.”
Terrence and Torry were driven to start their foundation after their mother Ojetta Holt-Shoffner lost her battle with cancer. Over the years their cause has grown and brought them back once a year to Raleigh for their Holt Brothers Celebrity Golf Classic.
“I think the cause, everyone can relate to it. I think everyone has someone they know that has had cancer,” said Terrence. “It takes a whole lot of work to put together this event every year and it can get tiring, but you have to sit back and look at the big picture, its not us, it’s about other people and the people we are benefitting.”
This year marks the ninth year of the classic which will be held Sunday April 10th at the Loonie Poole Golf Course.
Making the transition from professional sports to business is something that has come easy for the Holt brothers, but they attribute a lot of their success to the structure that playing football provided.
“You already know what you need to do in terms of working hard,” said Terrence. “It’s just a different level, you’re not going up against a wide receiver trying to catch a ball, now you’re going up a potential business partner.”
And the brothers have taken advantage of their time in the league to establish business partners. Over the years they have had the support of NFL greats Deion Sanders, Kurt Warner, Donovan McNabb, Steve Smith, Michael Irving, Marshall Faulk, and hometown players Dre Bly, Jerricho Cotchery and Manny Lawson.
Moving into the business world is transition they say any athlete can make.
“I would encourage guys to just try it, there are so many outlets where you can find places to figure out what you want to do,” said Terrence.
Torry said with the current lockout other players need to start to make plans now for their futures.
“Since I got into the NFL I was always doing something with the league, I said I know I’m not going to be able to play my whole life, so why not let these people know I have interest in other things while I have this platform.”
And it worked. Torry joined the NFL network as analyst this past fall after being released from the New England Patriots in August due to a knee injury.
“Our time away from the game, though we miss it, has been really good from a business standpoint,” said Torry.
Prior to their Celebrity Classic Sunday, the Holt brothers are hosting a Charity Social open to the public at Solas Restaurant on Saturday evening. All the money raised over the weekend will go to fund their foundationKidsCan! Programs.