NFL linebacker Scott Fujita and MLS forward Jason Garey are pro athletes.While their sports are worlds apart, both wear a passion for Lousiana's wetlands on their sleeves.
Browns linebacker Scott Fujita and Major League Soccer forward Jason Garey are pro athletes.While their sports are worlds apart, both wear a passion for Lousiana's wetlands on their sleeves.
Fujita, who joined the Cleveland Browns for his ninth season in the NFL, began a personal campaign to save coastal wetlands while playing for the New Orleans Saints. After winning the Super Bowl last year, he donated a big chunk of his playoff earnings to the cause.
Garey, who has spent the past five seasons with the Columbus Crew in the MLS, grew up fishing and hunting the bayous of coastal Louisiana. He has watched his beloved wetlands - and a way of life for his Louisiana family, friends and neighbors - slowly disappear. He is a spokesman for Vanishing Paradise, a wetlands program developed by Ducks Unlimited and the National Wildlife Federation.
Fujita: Savings wetlands can save New Orleans
"The coastal wetlands issue had been on my mind since my wife, Jaclyn, and I first got to New Orleans five years ago," said Fujita, 31, after a Browns practice this week. "We wanted to find out why everything went so badly after Hurricane Katrina. We watched 'Hurricane in the Bayou,' an IMAX film about Katrina, and got some of the answers.
"For the first time, I discovered how wetlands worked and why wetlands were the first line of defense for New Orleans. I quickly realized it wasn't the storm itself, but the depletion of wetlands that created all of the damage."
Fujita grew up in Ventura, Calif., was a walk-on star at California, made the all-Academic Pac-10 team and graduated with a degree in political science and a masters in education. He has long been an environmentalist and social activist.
"In Louisiana, it all starts with saving the wetlands," said Fujita. "Other areas need help, but if you ultimately want to defend the City of New Orleans, saving the wetlands is the way to do it."
A favorite of both his New Orleans teammates and fans, Fujita and his wife decided to take advantage of last year's Super Bowl appearance to spotlight the need for wetlands restoration.
"The way I look at it, the average NFL career is about 3 1/2 years," said Fujita. "I've been lucky to have played nine years, and hope I have a few more years left. Being an NFL player is a window of opportunity to do something good, something you believe in. When you're playing football, doing those types of things are part of the experience, not just the games on Sunday."
Garey: Politicians wrangle while wetlands ignored
"Growing up, my brothers and I spent all of our time in the marshes, where we developed a love of the outdoors and fishing," said Garey. "There's nothing finer than paddling a little pirogue on a marsh morning, casting for redfish. To me, the coastal marsh is one of the loveliest places in America.
"And day-by-day, the Louisiana wetlands are disappearing."
Experts say 2,100 square miles of Louisiana wetlands are gone, disappearing at the rate of 25 square miles per day. That is about the size of a soccer field every 40 minutes.
The Gulf oil disaster that followed Hurricane Katrina has devastated Garey, his family and neighbors. The marshes in peril from the oil spill have always been an integral part of their lives. Most frustrating, Garey said, has been the constant political wrangling while critical wetlands problems have been shoved aside or ignored.
Garey, 26, is in his fifth season with the Columbus Crew of the MLS. He grew up in the small town of Gonzalez, La., holding state high school soccer records for most goals in a season (73) and in a career (170). A walk-on at the University of Maryland, he became a first-team All-American, won the Hermann Trophy as the best college player, and led the Terrapins to the College Cup.
Garey will meet with federal legislators in the coming weeks when the Columbus Crew plays in the Washington, D.C. area. He is joining a radio tour in the fall with Vanishing Paradise to spotlight the wetlands problems, especially trying to reach people outside his home state.
While wetlands protection and restoration consumes him, Garey also needs to find time to go fishing.
"I love fishing," said Garey, with a laugh. "I fish Hoover Lake and other lakes in the Columbus area, and really want to try Lake Erie. It's not the marsh fishing I grew up with, but it's fishing."